How To Bet The Chicago vs Indiana NBA Spread

Posted by Eric Williams on Monday,March 28, 2016 7:28, EDT in

Things are so bad in Chicago these days that the Bulls are holding team meetings to ‘clear the air’ as they so eloquently put it. No such chemistry problems exist with the Indiana Pacers these days as they try to secure as high a seed as possible for the quickly approaching postseason period. If you’re looking to cash in with a winning NBA wager, then this matchup of teams heading in the opposite direction looks like a great place to start for Tuesday night’s slate of NBA betting action. Okay, let’s find out who’s going to bring home the bacon in this contest.

How To Bet The Chicago Bulls vs Indiana Pacers NBA Spread

When: 7:00 PM  ET, Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana
TV: FSIN, CSNC
Live Stream: NBA Stream
Odds: TBA
Line: TBA

Why Bet the Chicago Bulls

While the Bulls (36-26 SU, 29-43 ATS) have won three of the last four meetings against Indiana including a narrow 10-100 overtime win on December 30, I just don’t see much reason why anyone would back the Bulls in this contest unless they’re getting a really favorable line. Chicago has lost three straight and comes into this contest off a dismal 111-89 beatdown at the hands of Orlando on Saturday in which they never came close to covering the spread as a 7-point road favorite.

More importantly, the Bulls held a team meeting afterward to air their feelings, or should I say complaints, mostly about first-year head coach Fred Hoiberg.

“It’s just a lot of stuff. To say it’s like one thing we’re not doing right and that would solve everything, that’s just not the case,” Bulls veteran forward Mike Dunleavy said. “It’s a bunch of stuff we’re struggling with. Not only with effort, but execution and discipline and continuity. You can go through the whole thing. So from that standpoint I can’t sit here and say it’s one thing, or we’re not playing hard enough. We need to do everything better.”

The good news for Bulls fans and betting backers is that Chicago has gone 4-0 ATS in their last four games against their Central Division rivals.

Why Bet the Indiana Pacers

The Pacers (39-34 SU, 36-36 ATS) are coming off a 104-101 win over explosive Houston on Sunday night as a 1.5-point home favorite as Paul George scored a team-high 25 points and 11 rebounds while veteran shooting guard Monta Ellis added 23 points. Veteran center Ian Mahinmi added 19 points and 11 rebounds in the win. The Pacers forced the Rockets into an insane 7-for-33 shooting mark from beyond the arc (21.2%) and are looking to put the pedal to the metal as the playoffs approach.

“This was exactly the kind of game we expected,” said Mahinmi, whose 19 points tied his career high. “We felt really bad about the loss Saturday (at Brooklyn), and we knew we had to have this one tonight. A big thing right now is that we are still learning to play with each other, and we are getting better.”

“After Houston came back and made it a game, we finally did a good job of taking control again at the end,” George said.

The Pacers are just 2-6 ATS in their last eight home games against a team with a losing road record, but they’re also 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. NBA Central.

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Expert Score and Final Prediction

I guess it’s quite possible that Chicago could get its act together, but I’m not counting on it. Indiana has plenty of reasons to get the ‘W’ in this matchup, seeing as how they’re playing at home and want some revenge for their heartbreaking loss against the Bulls in December. The Bulls are just 3-9 ATS in their last 12 road games, 1-4 ATS in their last five games against their Eastern Conference counterparts and 0-4 ATS in their last four games overall.

The Home team in this division rivalry is 9-3 ATS in the last 12 meetings and the Bulls are 1-6 ATS in the last 7 meetings and 0-5 ATS in the last five road games against Indy. I say, play the Pacers for the win and ATS cover if they’re not favored by more than, let’s say four or five points at most.

My final score prediction is Indiana 103 Chicago 98