Be sure to check injuries and other relevant information close to game time as this article is written the night before and might be subject to change!
Chicago Bulls at San Antonio Spurs
The Chicago Bulls, in my opinion, won the trade deadline by acquiring one of the most underrated centers in the NBA in Vucevic. The center is having a career year and the Bulls have finally started acting like a big market team once again. Vucevic is so far averaging 24.5 PPG, 3.8 APG, and 11.8 RPG. Not only did they acquire Vucevic, they also landed defensive minded Theis to bolster their defense down low.
The Bulls are 19-24 on the season and sit 10th in the Eastern Conference. They are 4-6 in their last 10 games and own a two game losing streak so a trade was obvious to give Zach LaVine all the help he can get after displaying amazing feats and putting the team on his back by keeping them in the playoff hunt in a weak Eastern Conference. LaVine is averaging 28.1 PPG, 4.9 APG, and 5.1 PPG. The starting lineup is now to be feared with Markkanen and Vucevic down low, and white and LaVine as guards.
The Spurs are one the best teams in the last couple of decades thanks to coach Poppovich who will always have his team ready to play. Despite excellent coaching, the Spurs are more vulnerable than ever after buying out the contract of LaMarcus Aldridge. He had an impact but his age was starting to show. The Spurs are vulnerable despite holding onto the 8th seed with a record of 22-20. The Spurs are on a downslide by owning a four game losing streak and also going 4-6 in their last 10 games.
The Bulls now own the talent advantage and will be a handful for DeRozan and the Spurs. The line for the game isn’t out yet. Which is why I can only speculate. If the line is Bulls + to -5.0, hammer it.
Boston Celtics at Oklahoma City Thunder
The Boston Celtics are fresh off a win against the Bucks on the road. Surprisingly, the Celtics now boast a losing record and sit 7th in the Eastern Conference despite having some excellent wins against some good teams. The Celtics are 4-6 in their last 10 games as they look to go for .500. Thompson, Langford and Fournier are all likely to miss this game. Theis will also be out the lineup as he was traded to the Chicago Bulls for Mo Wagner.
The Thunder will also be missing some key players as well. George Hill will miss this game as he was traded to the 76ers. Also out for the Thunder is Rivers (acquired from the Knicks), Bradley and star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Missing Shai will be detrimental to the Thunder as he is by far their best player on the roster. Shai is averaging 23.7 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 4.7 RPG. He has certainly made some strides this season as the de facto leader.
The Thunder traded away most of their players this past offseason for first round picks for a rebuild but have still managed to outperform expectations. They are 13th in the Western Conference and are 5-5 in their last 10 games with a record of 19-25. Not terrible for a team so bad on paper.
The line isn’t out for this game but I can imagine it will go in favor of the Celtics. I can assume that the line will be at least -7.5. Anything less than Celtics -9.0 should be taken as the Thunder do not have the capability of stopping the duo of Brown and Tatum.
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