Bulls vs. Pacers prediction and pick for Tuesday, January 24
By Josh Yourish
You could argue that the Chicago Bulls went all-in to win games over the past two years with their roster moves, and the Indiana Pacers tore it down to develop their young players and yet, Indiana is 23-25 and Chicago is 22-24. The Pacers have been spiraling a bit without Tyrese Haliburton, but with the Bulls coming into town after playing just last night, this could be a good spot for them to get back into the win column for the first time since January 8.
Here are the odds for the Bulls and Pacers in Indiana tonight:
Bulls vs. Pacers odds, spread and total
Bulls vs. Pacers prediction and pick
The Pacers have lost seven straight games and have failed to cover the spread in their last five.
During that stretch, they’re No. 30, or dead last, in offensive rating, 106.6, and they aren’t that much better on the other end of the court, 21st in defensive rating. They have the longest active losing streak in the NBA, which happens to coincide directly with the loss of Tyrese Haliburton, who in a strange way is actually helping his all-star case by missing games. They’re last in the NBA in net rating over the losing streak.
Don’t worry I didn’t just hop on 8.9 to tell you how bad the Pacers have been, you probably already know that. I’m coming here to hopefully give a little bit of hope. One piece of that hope is that the Pacers are playing with a fast pace without Haliburton, more possessions means more opportunities to score even if you’re less efficient with your chances. The Pacers also have a much better rebounding percentage than the Bulls, and can steal a few possessions that way.
DeMar DeRozan and the Bulls are the more talented team at the moment, but on the road for the second night of a back-to-back is not a good spot for a team that isn’t exactly young. I think the young and fast Pacers will out work them tonight and finally break their losing streak. It can’t go on forever, Bennedict Mathurin and Buddy Hield need to have big games and they were on the cusp of beating Phoenix on Saturday with 23 and 22 respectively. A win is close. I can feel it.
Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change