Bulls vs. Bucks Odds
| Bulls Odds | +7 |
| Bucks Odds | -7 |
| Over/Under | 231 |
| Time | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN |
| Odds via Caesars. Get up-to-the-minute NBA odds here. | |
The Chicago Bulls travel to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks on Wednesday with less than a week to go in the season.
The Bulls lost a key game on Tuesday at home against the Atlanta Hawks, falling to 38-41 in the process and leaving them now two full games behind both the Hawks and the Raptors. However, they have the potential to win tiebreakers with either, so they still definitely have something to play for because of how much each spot up the ladder matters in the play-in bracket.
For the Bucks, they were helped immensely Tuesday night with a win of their own and a loss by the Celtics to drop Boston to three games back of Milwaukee. Boston does have the tiebreaker, but all the Bucks need is one win or one Celtics loss to clinch the top seed.
The hard (and fun!) part of the final week is trying to figure out motivations and how much or how little to weight those motivations.
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Chicago Bulls
The Bulls have been playing much better since the All-Star Break, going 12-8 in the 20 games since, allowing them to move solidly into the play-in. They have a +7.0 net rating since the break that ranks second only to only opponent on Wednesday, the Bucks. (Not including games from Tuesday night).
Zach LaVine, in particular, has been on a massive heater, averaging 28.2 points per game, up from 24.0 points per game before the break. LaVine is the classic player who can ride a heater where it doesn’t really matter who is defending him. When he is hot, he is as hard to stop as any scorer in the second-tier of NBA stars.
The Bulls, however, have a terrible history with the Bucks. Last season, the Bucks won all four regular season matchups before taking out the Bulls in a gentlemen’s sweep in the first round. The season before, the only Bulls win was the last game of the season when the Bucks rested their starters. The two seasons before that: eight wins for Milwaukee; zero for Chicago.
However, things have been a little different this season, with the Bulls winning two of the three matchups already. Of course, the Bucks were without Kris Middleton in both, and without Jrue Holiday in another.
Milwaukee Bucks
Of course, now the tricky part becomes trying to figure out whether or not the Bucks will rest those starters or not — and do so before the books react.
As noted above, the Bucks have a magic number of one to clinch the top seed. Personally, I think it makes sense to rest Giannis Antetokounmpo at least two of these final three games, and it would make sense to split them up.
As of now, the line of Bucks -7 suggests to me the books don’t agree, however. There’s maybe a tiny bit of potential rest mixed in, but with the moneyline at +200, I think the books are making themselves very vulnerable.
Bulls-Bucks Pick
While there’s a chance the Bucks run the full gang out there, the possibility of a full sit is also possible, and as such, there’s a really high ceiling to the Bulls moneyline.
Without the full information, I’m going to downsize the unit play, but of course trying to wait out that information will make it very challenging to get to the books before any potential shift in the odds.
Last week of the season, let’s get creative!
Pick: Bulls Moneyline +200