Bulls vs. Pistons Odds
| Bulls Odds | -4 |
| Pistons Odds | +4 |
| Over/Under | 220 |
| Time | 7 p.m. ET |
| TV | NBA League Pass |
| Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute NBA odds here. | |
After a great NBA primer last night with four of the top teams in the league filled with starpower on display, it’s time to see if another potentially great team can take care of business on the road to start the season.
One of the most intriguing storylines this season is the new-look Chicago Bulls. Will their brand new roster be able to gel right out of the gate? Is their dominant 4-0 preseason a sign of things to come? With so much talent on the offensive side of the ball, will they be able to share one ball?
The Detroit Pistons, meanwhile, feature two players coming off All-NBA Rookie seasons and add the top overall pick to this young roster. Cade Cunningham, unfortunately, will not be healthy enough to play in this one, though.
So many questions to be answered on these two intriguing Eastern Conference teams. Let’s dive in!
Are the Bulls Being Disrespected?
The Bulls went shopping this offseason and added three outstanding guard pieces to blend in with All-Stars Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. The former Magic big man is still fairly new to the team, having been acquired at the trade deadline.
Among the new faces brought in were DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso. These are not just new faces — these three players have a ton of proven talent and plenty of NBA experience. There is a lot of hype around this new-look roster, but I don’t see that being respected in this opening line.
The Bulls were a cash cow in the preseason. They won all four of their games by an average of 21.5 points per game with an Offensive Rating of 111.1 that ranked third in the NBA. This definitely isn’t the team that went 31-41 last season and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
The only concern I have is that there are four players who had a usage rate of over 20% last season — LaVine at 31.0%, Vucevic 29.4%, DeRozan 25.9% and Ball 20.6%. Patience and teamwork will be critical.
Chicago focused on inside the arc in the preseason, using its athleticism and talent to get to the basket and dominate the glass. The Bulls were second in defensive rebounds and total rebounds in the preseason. They also were in the top three in assists, turnovers and steals, as well.
Don’t sleep on Alex Caruso this season. He has legit upside to winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. Caruso can flourish in this role, just like he did for four years with the Los Angeles Lakers. He led the Bulls this preseason in Assist/Turnover Ratio and Pace, and he was also second to LaVine in Effective Field Goal Percentage and True Shooting Percentage.
Finally, despite having a poor record the last few years, the Bulls have covered the spread in each of their last seven games against the Pistons.
No Cunningham in Season Opener for Pistons
Cunningham is exactly what the Pistons needed after a 20-52 season. He provides a high-upside point guard who has size and length to pair with their talented role players.
Without Cunningham, the Pistons will likely start Killian Hayes, Frank Jackson, Saddiq Bey, Jerami Grant and Isaiah Stewart. Both Bey and Stewart made the All-NBA Rookie Team last season.
We saw a glimpse of Stewart attempting more 3-pointers towards the end of last season, but it sounds like that he has the green light to cast even more this season. In the last eight games of the regular season last year, Stewart attempted 32 total 3-pointers. In his previous 60 games, he only attempted 31. He also has a big edge on the glass against the Bulls, having led all rookies in Rebounding Percentage last season.
Last year, the Pistons ranked in the bottom-five of Offensive Rating, Turnover Percentage, and Effective Field Goal Percentage per NBA Advanced Stats.
While I like the Pistons outlook once Cunningham is fully healthy, they will have plenty of growing pains. I can’t see them being favored in many games this season, as they have the third-lowest win total (24.5) in the NBA at PointsBet.
Dating back to last season, the Pistons have lost 15 of their last 16 games against Central Division opponents. They’ll need to slow this game down like they did in their four preseason games to change their luck against familiar opponents. The Pistons ranked 27th in Pace this preseason.
Bulls-Pistons Pick
Once Cade Cunningham is healthy and has a few games under his belt, I will look to back the Pistons. However, tonight is not the night.
I expect the Bulls like they did all preseason to keep that momentum and run away with this season opener. The talent the Bulls have far outweighs what the Pistons will put on the floor, especially at the guard positions.
It was shocking to see this line at -3.5 for the Bulls. It was also shocking to see they had a win total of 42.5, which is tied for 15th among all teams.
Everyone is on the Bulls tonight. They are getting 97% of the bets and 97% of the money, per our Action Network Odds page. If the bandwagon isn’t too full, I’d like to snag a seat.
Is it bad that I feel like this is stealing candy from a trick-or-treater? I mean Halloween is coming up, so it can’t be that bad right?
Pick: Bulls -4 (play to-4.5)