Milwaukee Bucks vs Chicago Bulls Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 20/01/2022, 16:30  by Joseph King | Modified on 20/01/2022 at 22:31 in NBA Predictions

Two of the Eastern Conference’s best teams will face off at the Fiserv Forum in this matchup between the home team Milwaukee Bucks and the visiting Chicago Bulls. Chicago hold a slim lead atop the East with a record of 28-15 yet come into this game as significant underdogs against a Milwaukee team currently trailing them by two games in fourth place with a record of 28-19. The Bulls are coming off a 117-104 home victory against the Cavs but have had a tough stretch of games lately, with that win snapping a four game losing streak. Still though, the Bulls have been hugely impressive so far this season and have been one of the surprise packages of the NBA season so far. The Bucks’ last game was an impressive double digit home victory against the upstart Grizzlies but have similarly been stuttering in recent games, losing three of their last five games.

It’s been a bit of a strange first half of the season for the Bucks. Holders of the best Eastern Conference record two of the past three seasons, it seems they have suffered the infamous “championship hangover” a tad this season. The defending champions have played good ball as of late and have recovered well from their below par 6-8 start to the season. The Bulls, understandably, have struggled with the loss of their starting backcourt in Lonzo Ball and the prolific Zach Lavine with the latter positioned to possibly return next week. Lavine has shouldered a large share of the scoring duties averaging 25 points per game on an impressive 49% shooting from the field and 41% from three. The Bulls are 1-4 in Lavine’s absence and while DeMar DeRozan is having a borderline MVP year, Bulls fans will be eager to get Lavine back in the lineup as Chicago has looked like real contenders when fully healthy.