Bulls Face Depleted ‘Blazers as Road Faves in NBA Betting

The Chicago Bulls face the depleted Portland Trailblazers as road faves in the NBA betting sportsbook on Monday, February 7th.

The ‘Blazers will be without Marcus Camby and Brandon Roy again. Now, center Dante Cunningham is questionable for Monday night’s contest.

Can the ‘Blazers possibly stay competitive versus a very good Chicago team with so many players injured?

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Chicago Bulls (34-15) at Portland Trailblazers (27-24)

Where: Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon

When: Feb. 7th, 2010 at 10:00 pm EST

TV: WGN

NBA Betting Lines

Chicago Bulls -2 ½ -110 O 183 ½ -110

Portland Trailblazers +2 ½ -110 U 183 ½ -110

Check out some betting trends for this game.

• The Chicago Bulls are 4 and 1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.

• The Chicago Bulls are 4-0-1 in their last 5 games versus a team with a wining straight up record.

• Portland Trailblazers are 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall.

• The Portland Trailblazers are 2 and 5 ATS in their last 7 games playing on 1 day of rest.

Sure, there are a lot of good trends for the under but with trends like the ones above is there really any question which way NBA spread betting handicappers should go?

The Chicago Bulls stubbed their toes in their last game, a 90 to 101 loss to the Golden State Warriors as -3 ½ point road dogs, but that’s okay. The Bulls have still won 8 out of their last 10 games straight up and are 4 and 1 against the spread in their last 5. Chicago’s starting 5 towers over Portland’s starting 5 at this point. Chicago’s point guard, Derrick Rose, is averaging 24.4 points and 8.2 assists per game. Carlos Boozer is averaging 19.8 points and 10.4 boards per game.

The reason I highlight those 2 players is because Portland’s forward LaMarcus Aldridge and their guard Wesley Matthews are going to have to find a way to go point for point with Boozer and Rose on Monday night. Matthews and Aldridge are good, and they might get it done, but what happens to the rest of the ‘Blazers versus the Bulls?

After Aldridge and Matthews, the ‘Blazers have serious issues with point-guard Andrew Miller slowing down significantly from last season, Cunningham hurt, and Nicolas Batum just not being of the same quality as Chicago’s Luol Deng. In fact, given the current rosters, I’m very surprised that the online NBA odds don’t favor the Bulls more than they do.

The line opened as Chicago -1 ½ but now they’re at -2 ½. I suspect that Chicago will be a -3 to -3 ½ point favorite before they tip-off on Monday night. As long as the odds remain around -3 ½ or less, the Bulls are the solid play to cover the spread in this game on Monday night. Chicago’s starting 5 of Derrick Rose, Keith Bogans, Kurt Thomas, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng is far superior to Portland’s starting 5. Furthermore, even if Aldridge and Matthews have huge games versus the Bulls on Feb. 7th, Chicago has enough to counter those two Portland players.

I’m backing the Bulls to cover the spread in the sportsbook on Monday night.

NBA Basketball Betting Pick: Chicago Bulls -2 ½

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