CHICAGO BULLS VS. CHARLOTTE HORNETS – ODDS & PREDICTIONS FOR JANUARY 8, 2024

Greetings, basketball fans. Welcome back to our NBA coverage here at Latest Basketball News. One of the games on tap from Monday night’s slate features the Chicago Bulls (16-21 SU, 18-18-1 ATS) taking on the Charlotte Hornets (8-25 SU, 14-19 ATS).

Here is a look at which team has the edge going into this matchup and why.

Tipoff

When: Monday, January 8, 2024 at 7:00 PM ET
Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
TV: BSSE and NBCS-CHI

Chicago Bulls vs. Charlotte Hornets Odds (Via DraftKings)

Chicago Bulls vs. Charlotte Hornets – Regular Season Stats & Betting Trends

Can The Bulls Sweep The Home-And-Home Series Against Charlotte?

Chicago Bulls Season Stats:

Scoring Offense: 109.1 PPG – 28TH
Offensive Efficiency: 112.6 points per 100 possessions – 23RD
Scoring Defense: 111.5 PPG – 6TH
Defensive Efficiency: 115.0 points per 100 possessions – 14TH

The Chicago Bulls are in the No. 10 spot in the conference playoff race. That is the bad news. The good news is they have won six of their last 10 games. This includes a 104-91 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night.

Coby White paced Chicago’s scoring attack with 22 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out six assists. DeMar DeRozan added 17 points and six assists. Zach Lavine – who recently returned to the team’s rotation after being sidelined with a foot injury – contributed 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

“Physically, all good, you just have to catch your wind … but I felt good. I’m going to get my wind over the next couple of games,” LaVine said, via ESPN. “I think I did good. Missed a couple of open shots that I thought I should make, but other than that, I tried to go out there and play as hard as I could.”

Although the Bulls went 10-7 during LaVine’s absence, the team is hoping for better things to come as the All-Star works his way back into the team’s rotation.

Can The Hornets Get Back On Track Against The Bulls?

Charlotte Hornets Season Stats:

Scoring Offense: 109.5 PPG – 27TH
Offensive Efficiency: 110.6 points per 100 possessions – 26TH
Scoring Defense: 120.1 PPG – 25TH
Defensive Efficiency: 121.3 points per 100 possessions – 29TH

On the other side of this matchup, we have a Hornets squad that is having a bad season. Charlotte has the third-worst record in the conference. They have dropped nine of their last 10 decisions. This includes the aforementioned loss to the Bulls on Friday night.

Miles Bridges scored a team-high 28 points, along with five rebounds and two assists. Terry Rozier contributed 15 points on 5-for-17 shooting, while Cody Martin added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists.

“It was a challenging trip, but actually the guys did well,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said after the game. “I thought we played a little tired tonight, but we hung in there.”

Charlotte concluded their six-game road trip with a 1-5 record. The team is hoping to have a better showing at home.

Now, let us look at the all-important betting trends for both sides.

The Picks

The Spread

The Chicago Bulls opened as a consensus 4.5-point favorite. The line has recently moved to 6.5 points for the road team. Here is a look at how both teams have performed against the spread this season.

The Chicago Bulls are 13-5 ATS in their last 18 games overall.
Chicago is 5-1 ATS in its last six meetings against the Hornets.
The Bulls are 5-0 ATS in their last five matchups against Southeast Division opponents.
The Charlotte Hornets are 0-5 ATS in their last five contests against Eastern Conference teams.
Charlotte is 1-5 ATS in the last six games against Central Division opponents.

Based on the above trends, going with the Bulls to cover feels like an excellent choice in this matchup.

Prediction: Chicago Bulls (-6.5)

Over/Under

The projected over/under total for this matchup opened at 216 points. At the time of this writing, the line has moved slightly to 217 points (via pre-game.com). Here is a look at why going with the “UNDER” is the smart choice here.

The total has gone UNDER in each of the Bulls’ last eight games.

The UNDER total has prevailed in Chicago’s last five games against Eastern Conference opponents.

The UNDER total has cashed in eight times in the Bulls’ last nine January games.

The UNDER total has won nine times in the Hornets’ last 12 games.

In Charlotte’s last six home games against Chicago, the UNDER total prevailed five times.

The UNDER total has hit for Charlotte five times in the team’s last six January games.

Prediction: UNDER 217 points

Prop Bets

The key player to watch for the road team is Coby White. He currently has -125 odds of scoring more than 18.5 points and -105 odds of scoring less than 18.5 points.

On the season, White is averaging 17.9 points per outing, which is just a half point less than the projected scoring total.
In 16 road games, he is averaging 18.3 PPG.
White has played against Eastern Conference teams 26 times this season. In those contests, he is averaging 17.5 points per outing.
When playing on two days of rest this season, White is averaging 22 PPG.
White has played in six Monday night games this season. In those outings, he is averaging 19.7 points per contest.
Over his last 10 outings, he is averaging 19.7 points per outing, and he has exceeded the projected points total six times during that stretch.

As the trends indicate, going with the “over” for White looks like a good choice here.

Prediction: Coby White OVER 18.5 points

The key player to watch for the home team is Terry Rozier. He currently has -110 odds of scoring more than 24.5 points and -120 odds of finishing with less than 24.5 points. Here is a look at how his season splits stack up against his projected scoring total for this matchup.

On the season, Rozier is averaging 23.7 points per outing.
In eight home games, he is averaging 22.6 PPG.
Rozier has played against Eastern Conference teams 15 times this season. In those contests, he is averaging 22.3 PPG.
He has played three times on Monday nights this season. His points-per-game average in those contests is 26.3.
Over his last 10 outings, Rozier is averaging 23.8 PPG.
Rozier has played against Chicago twice this season. He averaged 20.5 PPG in those contests.

Going with “under” for Rozier looks like a safe bet based on these trends.

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