NBA Betting – San Antonio Spurs vs. Chicago Bulls

Thursday, October 29 – 8 PM ET

BetOnline NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: SAN ANTONIO -3, Total 193

San Antonio came out big in its season opener against the New Orleans Hornets, and cruised to a 113-96 win which undoubtedly left Spurs fans both a little worried and plenty excited.

Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• SA has lost four of its last six games SU
• SA has covered two of its last six road games
• SA has played four of its last six road games UNDER the total
• CHI is 1-3-1 ATS in its last five games
• CHI has won 15 of its last 23 games SU
• CHI has lost four of its last six games SU
• CHI has played six of its last seven games OVER the total
• CHI has won 16 of its last 19 home games SU

Also….

• SA has covered five of the last six meetings
• SA has won 14 of the last 16 meetings SU
• Five of the last six meetings have gone UNDER the total
• SA has won and covered seven of the last eight meetings as the road team
• Ten of the last 14 meetings in Chicago have gone UNDER the total
• SA has had the rebounding edge in eight of the last ten meetings
• SA has made more three-pointers in each of the last ten meetings

They were worried because floor leader Tony Parker took a very hard fall in the third quarter, having to leave the game after having the wind knocked out of him, and they were very excited about the NBA debut of rookie DeJuan Blair, a second-round draft pick out of Pittsburgh who had 14 points and eleven rebounds. Blair is short for a center-power forward at 6’7", but he has a little bit of Wes Unseld in him, in that he is muscular, has a long wingspan and takes up a lot of room in the paint.

He was one of six San Antonio players in double figures. When the team started last season with a lot of injury problems, which began with Manu Ginobili being out, then Parker, that offered the opportunity for others to get meaningful time, and they benefited. Roger Mason was one of them, and he got 11 points in the game.

The Bulls, who are led by their point guard, Derrick Rose, who won the Rookie of the Year award in the NBA last season, might function well if they stepped up the tempo, but they lost some scoring in the off-season when Ben Gordon left as a free agent. Sure, John Salmons can pick up some of the slack, but even though this team really took Boston to the limit in the playoffs, they did so only because the Celtics were without Kevin Garnett.

There is not a lot of strength up front for the Bulls, not when they have to rely on Tyrus Thomas, who has underachieved since coming out of LSU, and Joakim Noah, who can block shots and run the floor but is subject to being out-muscled. Neither of them are particularly equipped to deal with Tim Duncan, and with the addition of Antonio McDyess and the aforementioned Blair, that will make it tougher for Chicago to compete underneath.

We’re going to stick with a team that demonstrated intensity in its opener, and lay the points with the Spurs, the three-point road favorite in the BetOnline NBA pro basketball betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: SAN ANTONIO -3 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)