NBA Betting – Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles Lakers

Chicago Bulls (-9.5, 194.5) at Los Angeles Lakers

Tonight, the Chicago Bulls (30-17) play their second of six straight on the road when they visit the Los Angeles Lakers (12-34) at the Staples Center (10:30 p.m. Eastern).

On paper, the Bulls should cruise past the dreadful Lakers, who recently lost leading scorer – and only real offensive threat – Kobe Bryant to a season-ending shoulder injury. The woeful Lakers have lost nine in a row (the last three without Bryant), and five of those losses have been by 11 points or more.

With Kobe sidelined for the last three games, the Lakers have failed to score more than 92 points. Over the course of the season, they have been averaging a respectable 99.1. Their leading scorer is now Nick Young, who averages just over 14 points per game and, concerningly, is shooting just 37% from the field.

Chicago is suffering from its own injury problems at the moment, though. Leading scorer Jimmy Butler (20.1 PPG) is questionable for tonight’s game with an an illness, and Mike Dunleavy remains out with an ankle injury. However, the Bulls will still have former league MVP Derrick Rose (18.6 PPG) on the floor, along with Pau Gasol (18.3 PPG). Considering that the Lakers defense is the second-worst in the league, the Bulls should be able to put up some points whether Butler suits up or not.

Looking at the trends, Chicago has won six of the last ten against the Lakers and covered the spread in all six. The Bulls are also a solid 13-10 ATS on the road this year, while the Lakers are 11-12 ATS at home. Taking the Bulls and laying the points looks like the better play.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA (Derrick Rose) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)