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The Indiana Pacers will look to play better on the road on Monday night when they travel to the Windy City to play the Chicago Bulls at 8:00 p.m. ET. The Pacers (7-11) are coming off of a dominating 111-94 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. But they have lost their last three road games by an average of 6.3 points per game. The Bulls have won four out of their last five games, which includes a six-point win at home against the Knicks on Sunday night. We’ll go over some ideal picks on DraftKings Sportsbook centered around the game here.
Pacers vs. Bulls, 8:00 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Bulls -3
Whenever one team is playing in the second night of a back-to-back, I usually tend to pick whoever their opponents is against the spread. However, the Bulls have played well on the second night of back-to-backs with a 2-0 record straight up and 2-0 against the spread.
Chicago, who is currently in first place in the NBA, has played like one of the top teams in the East, thanks to execution on offense and defense. This is without All-Star center Nikola Vucevic, who has been out because of the health and safety protocols. Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan are averaging 66 combined points this season. LaVine and DeRozan are the top scorers averaging 26.8 points and 26.5 points per game, respectively.
The Bulls are 4-1 ATS in their last five games and 4-2 ATS when they are the home favorite this season. The Pacers, despite their 2-9 road record, are not a pushover. They have a solid squad led by Domantas Sabonis, Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert, and Myles Turner. Without no Vucevic, the Pacers should try to get Sabonis and Turner involved early. However, when it comes down to crunch time, Indiana is 1-4 SU when games are decided by less than four points. The Pacers are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games against the Bulls and 4-2 ATS when they are the road underdog. You could make a compelling case to pick the Pacers to cover in this spot, but the Bulls are the better team at this point. What they lack in the frontcourt, they are getting the production from the perimeter.
Over/Under: Under 212
If you haven't heard, the under has been profitable to start this season. And when it comes to these two teams, the best bet has been the under as well. The Pacers’ over record is 6-12 and the total has gone under in eight out of their last 10 games. The Bulls’ over record is 7-10 and the total has gone under in four out of their last six games.
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