Thunder Against the Spread | Despite Injury Questions, OKC is a Monster Favorite Over Visiting Bulls

Tip-Off: 7 PM CT

Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

Spread: Thunder (-15.5)

Total: 238.5

Trends Against The Spread

Thunder	vs.	Bulls
50-25 (66%)	All	38-34-2 (54%)
27-11 (71%) at home	Location	20-16-1 (55%) on the road
48-24 (66%) as favorite	Status	30-25-1 (54%) as underdog
27-11 (70%) as home favorite	Location Status	17-14 (54%) as road underdog
1-0 (100%)	Head To Head	0-1 (0%)

Trends Against The Total

• Oklahoma City is 40-34-1 (54%) against the over on the season.
• Chicago is 38-36 (51%) against the over on the season.
• The Thunder is 23-15 (60%) against the over at home.
• The Bulls are 20-17 (54%) against the over on the road.

Team Stats

TEAM	PTS	PA	FG%	3P%	REB	AST	TOV	STL	BLK	STRK	L10
CHI	117.2	115.2	49.1	37.3	41.3	29.3	13.5	8.5	5.1	W1	8-2
OKC	120.1	106.9	48.1	37.4	44.9	26.9	11.8	10.4	5.7	W9	9-1

Injury Report

Thunder

• Ousmane Dieng (strained left calf) is OUT.
• Alex Ducas (strained right quad) is OUT.
• Isaiah Hartenstein (left hip soreness) is QUESTIONABLE.
• Chet Holmgren (left hip injury management) is QUESTIONABLE.
• Ajay Mitchell (right great toe surgery) is OUT.
• Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) is OUT.
• Aaron Wiggins (left Achilles tendinitis) is OUT.
• Jaylin Williams (left hip tightness) is QUESTIONABLE.

Bulls

• Lonzo Ball (sprained right wrist) is DOUBTFUL.
• Ayo Dosunmu (left shoulder surgery) is OUT.
• Josh Giddey (right hip soreness injury management) is QUESTIONABLE.
• Kevin Huerter (sprained right thumb injury management) is OUT.
• Tre Jains (sprained left midfoot) is OUT.
• E.J. Liddell (illness) is OUT.
• Emmanuel Miller (G League — two-way) is OUT.
• Jahmir Young (G League — two-way) is OUT.

Series History

So far this season, the Thunder is 1-0 against the Bulls (0-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).

Why the Thunder Will NOT Cover (-15.5)

This is a tough spread to pick due to a lot of questions surrounding the injury report. Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jaylin Williams are all questionable with various hip issues, but I would expect at least 2 of the 3 to be available tonight. Even if they can’t go, though, OKC’s small ball looked pretty dang good in the second half against the Pacers on Saturday. I’m thinking that the Thunder will open this game up in the third quarter before Chicago manages to fight back late to just barely cover the spread.

Why the Game Will Hit the Over (238.5)

I don’t think Chicago has the ability to slow down the Thunder’s offense, particularly if OKC is knocking down shots. During the current 9-game win streak, the Thunder has hit 42.8% of their attempts from three, and they are absolutely dominating teams by an average margin of victory of 17.3 points. Because I do expect the Bulls to cover the spread late, I’m taking the over on the total points.

Staff Picks

On the Season

Name	Moneyline	Spread	Over/Under
Matt	55-17	44-27-1	33-39-1
Zack	62-13	54-21	39-36
Craig	59-14	52-19-2	36-36-1