Wednesday NBA Betting Preview: Pacers vs. Bulls

The Chicago Bulls look to remain perfect at home when they host the Indiana Pacers in an NBA Central Division battle in Chicago. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 PM ET at the United Center where Chicago is favored by -9.5 with the total at 184.

The Bulls (16-3 SU, 12-7 ATS) have won eight straight in the Windy City and four in a row overall. In their last outing on Monday night, Chicago crushed New Jersey 110-95 at the UC. Derrick Rose returned to the lineup after missing four games with a sprained left big toe and had 22 points and eight assists while Rip Hamilton also had 22 and 10 helpers. Joakim Noah chipped in with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls who keep on winning despite a plethora of injuries.

Luol Deng (Deng 15.9 points, 7.5 rebounds per game) is the latest Chicago casualty. Deng suffered a torn wrist ligament in Saturday night’s 95-89 win over Charlotte and is listed as week-to-week. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau says his star forward is going to be out for a while and that its more of a pain tolerance issue right now. There’s even a chance he’ll be forced to undergo surgery although Deng calls that an option of last resort. Ronnie Brewer will start in his place putting additional pressure on an already thin bench that’s without John Lucas III (sprained groin) and Taj Gibson (sprained ankle).

The Pacers (11-5 SU, 9-7 ATS) have been one of the surprise teams in the NBA this season but turned in one of their worst efforts of the year dropping a 92-74 decision to the Orlando Magic as a -3 point favorite. Dwight Howard scored 14 points to become Orlando’s all-time leading scorer but it was Ryan Anderson who did the damage scoring 24 points. Roy Hibbert had 16 points and 12 rebounds while Danny Granger also had 16 points for Indy which had nine shots blocked in the game. It marked Orlando’s fourth straight victory at Indiana.

The Pacers who suffered their first home loss in six games were their own worst enemies. Indy had 19 turnovers and was just 3 for 13 shooting from beyond the arc but did turn in a stellar performance at the free throw line going 18 for 18.

Tough stretch

We’ll soon find out if the Pacers, who are off to their best start in eight years, are a serious contender or just a pretender. After tonight’s game, they’ll visit Boston and Orlando all within a four- day period. Not including their impressive road win over the Lakers, Indiana has played a relatively soft schedule. They’ve beaten the Cavaliers, Charlotte, Detroit, New Jersey, Golden State and Toronto twice en route to their quickest start since opening 13-2 in 2003-04.  

The series

This will be the first meeting of the year. The Bulls won three of the four regular season games last season and took the first-round playoff matchup. In the last regular season meeting, the Pacers prevailed 115-108 in overtime at home despite Derrick Rose's 42 points.

Trends

Chicago is 12-5 ATS in its last 17 games and 5-3 at home but is just 2-4 vs. Indiana in the past six meetings. The ‘under’ is 7-2-1 in the Bulls last 10 home games.

Harvey’s Take: Chicago continues to find ways to win. They survived while Rose was sidelined with the toe injury and I’ve got no doubt they’ll keep it going without Deng. I’m making a small play on the Bulls and a sprinkle on the ‘under’.

Good luck!