The Boston Celtics will travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bulls in a Monday night NBA matchup at the United Center in Chicago. With that said, it’s a good time to check out our NBA odds series, which includes a Celtics-Bulls prediction and pick, laid out below.
Entering this one, Boston has gone an impressive 3-0 to begin the season, one of four remaining unbeaten teams. Boston finished their 2021-22 regular season 51-31, going all the way to the NBA Finals before losing in six games to Golden State. An interesting offseason surrounding their now-suspended head coach casts a cloud over a talented roster.
Chicago has struggled to a 1-2 record, losing two games in a row after a season-opening victory. Chicago finished last season with an impressive 46-36 record, sixth place in the Eastern Conference, before losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the opening round of the playoffs.
Here are the Celtics-Bulls NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NBA Odds: Celtics-Bulls Odds
Boston Celtics: -6 (-110)
Chicago Bulls: +6 (-110)
Over: 225 (-110)
Under: 225 (-110)
Why The Celtics Could Cover The Spread
Boston’s tumultuous offseason truly overshadowed the strong roster assembled here by Brad Stevens and company. A key offseason addition was Malcolm Brogdon, who spent six seasons combined with Milwaukee and Indiana. Brogdon has averaged 12 points despite a brutal 22.2 percent shooting percentage from the 3-point line. Jayson Tatum leads the team with averages of 34.7 points and 8.3 rebounds on 58.7 percent shooting. Jaylen Brown is second in scoring with 25 points per game. Tatum and Brown are coming off great seasons, in which both averaged over 23 points and six rebounds per game. Grant Williams has broken out in the early part of the season, averaging a career-high 12.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Williams has also produced an average plus/minus of 6.3. Despite averaging just 9.3 points, Marcus Smart leads the team with six assists per game.
Boston ranks sixth in the league, averaging 121 points, while allowing 113.7 points, which ranks 16th.
Why The Bulls Could Cover The Spread
DeMar DeRozan is now in his second season with Chicago, which is great news for any fan of this club. DeRozan did not disappoint in his first season with the team, averaging 27.9 points per game last season. DeRozan has followed that up by leading the team with 27.3 points and 5.3 assists per game. Zach LaVine has returned, scoring 23 points with four assists, three rebounds, and two steals in his debut game this season. Nikola Vucevic has put up 18.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, approaching a double-double on a nightly basis. However, those are the only three Bulls averaging double-digit points, which spells a problem for the offense.
Chicago has averaged 104 points per game, which ranks 27th in the league, while surrendering 112.7 points, which ranks 15th in the league. Chicago's offensive struggles can be traced to their poor shooting, as buckets have fallen at a 42.2 percent clip. Things get a lot worse from behind the 3-point line, where Chicago is converting at a disastrous rate of just 29.3 percent. Once those things get cleaned up, the offense should take a huge step forward considering the amount of talent on the roster.
Final Celtics-Bulls Prediction & Pick
Although the defenses are solid, this is the NBA, and there will be points. Boston's star power will be too much for Chicago to handle.
Final Celtics-Bulls Prediction & Pick: Boston -6 (-110), Over 225 (-110)
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