Tip-off: Thursday, 10:35 p.m. ET
Line: Sacramento -1, Total: 195

The short-handed Bulls continue their long road trip on Thursday night when they visit the slumping Kings.

Chicago will be without both PG Derrick Rose (hamstring) and PF Pau Gasol (calf) when it takes the court on Thursday night, but despite the absence of these two stars on Monday, the Bulls still crushed the Clippers in L.A. by a 105-89 score to open their seven-game road trip. Chicago improved to 6-0 SU (4-2 ATS) on the road this season where the team is outscoring hosts by a hefty 10.0 PPG margin (104.7 to 94.7). Sacramento could be missing a key player in SF Rudy Gay, who is once again questionable with an Achilles injury. He had the same questionable status in Tuesday's 106-100 home loss to New Orleans, which was the team's fourth defeat in five games (2-2-1 ATS) and dropped the club to 3-2 (SU and ATS) at home this season. Although the host team has won five straight meetings in this series, the Kings have gone 5-0 ATS during this timeframe. When these teams met at Sleep Train Arena last season, Sacramento rolled to a 99-70 blowout by outshooting Chicago 52% FG to 28% FG. Bettors should note that good underdogs (60-75% win pct.) are 51-23 ATS (69%) in November over the past five seasons, but the Kings are 23-12 ATS (66%) in the past two seasons after allowing 105+ points in a game. In addition to the aforementioned injuries, Sacramento has two players that are probable in C DeMarcus Cousins (hip) and PF Jason Thompson (quad).

Can the Bulls stay hot with another victory on Thursday night? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Forecaster has a 59% ATS record (32-22) in featured games this season. StatFox Gary is off to a great start to the 2014-15 campaign at 59% ATS (10-7) in his Best Bets, while StatFox Brian is 58% ATS (7-5) on NBA Best Bets in November.

Chicago is the midst of an impressive 7-2 SU run (4-5 ATS) in November where only three of those contests included PG Derrick Rose (18.0 PPG, 5.4 APG). The club is averaging a strong 102.5 PPG (12th in NBA) on 46.9% FG (4th in league), and those numbers are way up from last season's 93.4 PPG on 43.2% FG, which were both the worst offensive marks in the NBA. A big reason for this offensive turnaround is the addition of PF Pau Gasol (18.6 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.5 BPG). Gasol was slowed by a calf injury on Saturday, which led to season lows in points (12) and FG Pct. (27%) against a great Pacers defense. Gasol did not play during Monday's win, and he won't play on Thursday either. The player that has been asked to do the most scoring with these two players out is SG Jimmy Butler (21.3 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.9 APG), who is shooting 51% FG and 37% threes this season. Butler is knocking down 52% FG on the road this season where he's averaging a well-rounded 20.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG and 5.6 APG in five games. PF Taj Gibson (13.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.2 BPG) will once again replace Gasol in the lineup after a monster effort on Monday when he lit up the Clippers for 20 points (9-of-13 FG), six assists, five boards and two blocks. C Joakim Noah (8.2 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.3 BPG) also had a huge effort in Monday's win with 11 points (5-of-8 FG), 16 rebounds ad six assists. His defense is a big reason why Chicago allows only 97.1 PPG (11th in NBA) on 42.9% FG (5th in league).

Sacramento has the second-fewest assists in the NBA (18.2 APG), but it is still scoring a respectable 102.5 PPG (11th in league) on 44.2% FG. These numbers would be much higher if the Kings could knock down some long-range jumpers, as their 30.2% three-point FG clip ranks last in the NBA. This team has also improved its defense that allows 102.0 PPG, which is considerably better than last season's 104.5 PPG allowed. Sacramento has only three double-digit scorers on the team, led by C DeMarcus Cousins (22.5 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 1.5 BPG) who has eight double-doubles this season, including four in a row. Despite facing defensive monster Anthony Davis and the Pelicans on Tuesday, Cousins still produced 24 points (10-of-18 FG), 17 rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks. The other main scorer for the Kings is SF Rudy Gay (21.8 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 3.6 APG). He has netted more than 10 points in every game this season, but has been ice-cold on the team's homestand with a 35% FG clip (0-for-5 threes) in the two games so far. New PG Darren Collison (15.8 PPG, 6.3 APG, 3.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG) has enjoyed his first season with the Kings, tallying career highs in both points and assists. Collison has 17.3 PPG and 7.0 APG in three games since returning to action after a shoulder injury.