Say what you will about the NBA’s play-in tournament, but Thursday’s tilt between the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls still holds weight down the home stretch because of it.
The Hornets currently sit eighth in the Eastern Conference while the Bulls are back in 12th, just one game out of the 10th spot and a ticket to the unique postseason qualifier. The NBA betting odds have Chicago as a slim favorite with neither side playing particularly well while dealing with big-name absences on both rosters.
Enjoy our free NBA picks and predictions for Hornets vs. Bulls on April 22.
Hornets vs Bulls odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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NBA sharp money and line movement report
By Patrick EversonTwinSpires saw a lot of early back-and-forth between the opener of Bulls -2.5 and -3, but the line is down to -1 as of 6 p.m. ET. Point-spread ticket count and money are both in the 2/1 range on the Hornets, whom TwinSpires termed "a trendy 'dog tonight. We'll need the favorite." The total is out to 210 from a 207.5 opener, with 59 percent of tickets/74 percent of money on the Over.
Check out the full line movement for this gameHornets at Bulls betting preview
Injuries
Hornets: Gordon Hayward F (Out), LaMelo Ball G (Out), Malik Monk G (Out).
Bulls: Zach LaVine G (Out), Troy Brown F (Questionable).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Hornets are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games as road underdogs. Find more NBA betting trends for Hornets vs. Bulls.
Against the spread (ATS) pick
Chicago had a chance to build momentum and close that gap in the play-in race after winning back-to-back games heading into Wednesday’s matchup in Cleveland. However, the Bulls would stumble out of the gate with a 12-point first quarter and fall by 16 points to a Cavaliers team that they’d beaten by 10 points just two games ago.
Chicago finished Wednesday’s drubbing with 19 turnovers and shot a desperate 13 for 37 from beyond the arc. The one bonus though was that head coach Billy Donovan was able to rest his starters and get some minutes from the bench, leaving the Bulls fresher than they should be for the second game of a back-to-back.
Outside of the slow start and the careless mistakes, the Bulls actually shot the ball well on Wednesday, knocking down 49 percent of their looks, and won the final three quarters by six points. The Bulls, who have been without leading scorer Zach LaVine due to COVID-19 since April 14, got 62 points from their reserves in the loss to Cleveland.
Charlotte comes to the Windy City with only one win in its last six outings, going 1-6 ATS in that span. The Hornets are also down their top performers in Gordon Hayward and rookie LaMelo Ball, struggling to make up for those losses on offense. The Hornets are averaging only 103.1 points per game in April, shooting a collective 44.4 percent from the field in those 11 contests.
This matchup with the Bulls is the first stop of back-to-back outings for Charlotte, which heads home to host the Cavaliers on Friday. Last night’s poor performance from Chicago was isolated to the first 12 minutes and that ugly loss is discounting the home side too much. I’m running with the Bulls on Thursday night.
PREDICTION: Chicago -1 (-110)
Over/Under pick
Chicago’s 19 turnovers to Cleveland were the team’s undoing Wednesday but were far from a surprise. The Bulls cough up the ball 15.4 times per game on the year – third-most in the NBA – gift-wrapping more than 18 points against from those errors per outing.
While the Hornets miss the sting of Hayward, Monk and Ball, they do a good job picking up offense where they can. Charlotte ranks seventh in points off turnovers (18.1 ppg) on the year and flipped 14 turnovers from the Bulls in 22 points when these teams last clashed back on January 22: a 123-111 road victory for Chicago that played Over the 229-point total.
As mentioned above, the Bulls are playing the second stop of back-to-back outings Thursday, but the starters didn’t see much action due to the blowout in Cleveland. Chicago, which is 6-3 Over/Under in its last nine outings, will have plenty left in the tank and solid scoring depth, which will help push this final score Over the modest total.
PREDICTION: Over 210 (-110)
Player prop pick
Bulls blue-collar forward Daniel Theis played less than 20 minutes on Wednesday and should bring plenty of his scrappy energy against a shaky Charlotte frontcourt Thursday.
Theis, who averages 9.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, faces a Hornets defense allowing 64 points in the paint per contest (third-most in the league) while watching foes wrangle an offensive rebound rate of 23.8 percent (fourth-worst). The Hornets are playing musical chairs with their starting centers, scrambling for toughness under the basket.
Theis is facing a points + rebounds Over/Under of 14.5 Thursday, which seems a bit daunting looking at his recent work. But the 6-foot-8 German had seven points and four boards in only 19:48 last night and we like him to frustrate the Bugs on the block.
PREDICTION: Daniel Theis points + rebounds Over 14.5 (-113)
Hornets vs Bulls betting card
- Chicago -1 (-110)
- Over 210 (-110)
- Daniel Theis points + rebounds Over 14.5 (-113)
Picks made on 4/22/2021 at 11:10 a.m. ET
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