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Bulls look to take down Pacers on Friday night
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 3/21/2014  at  5:08:00 AM
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CHICAGO BULLS (38-30)

at INDIANA PACERS (50-18)

Tip-off: Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Indiana -6, Total: 179.5

Joakim Noah and the Bulls look to stay hot Friday night when they visit the Pacers.

Chicago went on the road Wednesday night and defeated the 76ers 102-94 for its third win in four games, improving the team to 14-5 SU (12-7 ATS) since Feb. 9. The Bulls are allowing just 91.3 PPG over their past four games and that could spell trouble for an Indiana team scoring just 92.5 PPG over its past two contests despite going up against the poor defenses of the 76ers and Knicks. The Pacers lost 92-86 to New York on Wednesday, which snapped their four-game winning streak, but dropped to a pathetic 3-16-1 ATS in their past 20 contests. So far this season, these clubs have split games with the home team winning and covering. Chicago won the most recent meeting, 110-94 on Nov. 16, while Indiana prevailed in the previous game on Nov. 6 by a 97-80 margin. Over the past three seasons, the Pacers are 5-4 SU in this series, but the Bulls are 5-4 ATS. Chicago is 18-7 ATS (72%) on Friday nights over the past two seasons and 8-1 ATS in road games after having won three of its previous four games this season. The Pacers, however, are 28-12 ATS (70%) when coming off a road loss over the past two seasons. Indiana will be without C Andrew Bynum (knee) indefinitely, and SG C.J. Watson (hamstring) is considered questionable for this contest.

Can the Pacers get back in the win column on Friday versus a tough Bulls team? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2012-13 season. The experts have been surging recently with a 58% ATS mark (25-18) since March 9. StatFox Dave has a strong 56% ATS (44-34-1) Best Bets record since Dec. 1, while StatFox Brian remains red-hot, going 61% ATS (25-16-1) since Jan. 25 and 57% ATS (39-30-1) in Best Bets since Dec. 12. StatFox Gary is also heating up with a 61% ATS mark (14-9) since Feb. 13, while StatFox Zach is on a 7-1 ATS run since March 9.

Chicago has the lowest-scoring offense in the NBA at 93.4 PPG, but the club does a nice job sharing the basketball (22.4 APG) to created easier shots. This is an excellent defensive club, holding teams to 92.3 PPG (2nd in NBA), while grabbing a strong 44.9 RPG (9th in league) with a hefty +3.8 RPG margin (3rd in NBA). The Bulls are coming off a 102-94 road victory over the 76ers in which PG D.J. Augustin (12.2 PPG, 4.3 APG) led the team in scoring with 20 points. Augustin has not played against the Pacers since being acquired by the team, and his speed could really give George Hill trouble on both sides of the ball. C Joakim Noah (12.3 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 1.5 BPG) is averaging 14.4 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 7.8 APG and 2.4 BPG over the past five games. Noah is a legitimate MVP candidate at this point in the season and he is a triple-double threat every time he steps out on the floor. He will need to keep up his recent intensity, as he will be matched up against Roy Hibbert, one of the best centers in the NBA. One player who the Bulls will really need to play extremely well is SG Jimmy Butler (12.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG). Butler is averaging 14.5 PPG over the past two contests, but has tallied just 8.5 PPG in the two meetings with the Pacers this season. He will need to add a lot more than that on offense if the Bulls are going to come away with an upset road victory. Defensively, Butler will likely be matched up against Paul George, so his play there is equally as important.

Indiana is very similar to Chicago in that the team doesn't score very much (98.6 PPG, 21st in NBA), but it always defends hard (league-best 92.2 PPG allowed) and crashes the glass (+4.3 RPG margin, 2nd in NBA). The Pacers are coming off a road loss to the Knicks in which SF Paul George (22.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG) just couldn’t get it going offensively. George had 17 points, but most of those came from the line and he was not efficient from the field (4-of-17 FG). He is averaging just 16.5 PPG (27% FG) against the Bulls this season and will need to step it up offensively, as SG Jimmy Butler is more than capable of outplaying him. PG George Hill (10.9 PPG, 3.5 APG) has struggled offensively recently, averaging just 9.2 PPG (34% FG, 32% threes) over the past five contests. He will need to play better because D.J. Augustin has been excellent recently for Chicago and is capable of picking apart defenses when he is on his game. C Roy Hibbert (11.3 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.4 BPG) was great offensively against the Knicks, finishing with 20 points (8-of-10 FG). He is averaging 11.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG and 4.0 BPG in two games against the Bulls this season. If Hibbert is able to outplay Joakim Noah, Chicago won't have much of a chance in this one.


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