Chicago Bulls vs Atlanta Hawks Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 01/04/2024, 06:13  by Kennedy Kechula | Modified on 01/04/2024 at 06:44 in NBA Predictions

The Chicago Bulls will be at home to welcome the Atlanta Hawks in the two sides’ final regular season fixture. One and a half games separate the two in the East standings with the ninth-placed Bulls having the advantage over the 11th-placed Hawks. The Bulls are coming off a big win in Minnesota. Billy Donovan’s men defeated the Timberwolves, who were top of the West standings at the time, 109-101. This was their 36th win of the season and took them to within three games of being .500. Chicago and Atlanta look destined to face off in the play-in and both teams will look to send a message here. The Bulls have defeated the Hawks in both matchups this season. They won 136-126 in the most recent encounter back in February. Chicago have won two of their last three games and in this period have averaged 114.0 points. Julian Philips is ruled out for this game and joins long-term absentees Zach LaVine, Lonzo Ball and Patrick Williams on the sidelines.

The Hawks saw a four-match winning run come to an end last time out. They were defeated 122-113 by the Bucks and will want to bounce back immediately. Quin Snyder’s men have a sizable gap on their closest challenger the Nets and have one foot in the play-in. They are 5.5 games clear with eight more matches left to play. Atlanta have compiled a 34-40 record and 20 of their wins have come against fellow East teams. In their most recent winning run, the Hawks had twice defeated the Celtics. Atlanta have a long injury list coming into this game and could be without seven players here. Onyeka Okongwu, AJ Griffin, Saddiq Bey, Mouhammed Gueye, and Trey Young have all been ruled out. Kobe Bufkin and Jalen Johnson are questionable. The Hawks are ranked fifth on offence and have averaged 118.7 points over their last three matches.