Tip-off: Thursday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: San Antonio -5, Total: 198

The San Antonio Spurs look to extend their four-game winning streak against a struggling Chicago Bulls team Thursday night.

San Antonio was having its issues this year with injuries and rest, but has turned things around and won six of its past seven contests; including each of the past four by an average of 12.3 PPG. The Spurs are 5-1-1 ATS in that time thanks to a tough defense that held three of those opponents to below 40% FG. They really went off against the Nuggets on Tuesday with a 109-99 victory as 9-point favorites on the road, as they made 11-of-27 three-pointers (41%) and had six different players score in double figures. The Bulls have high expectations for this season and despite having plenty of talent on their club both offensively and defensively, they have gone just 2-6 (SU and ATS) over their past eight games. Their offense has not showed up in most of those losses, as they made fewer than 40% of their field-goal attempts four times, and have now done so seven times in the past 13 games. Chicago performed poorly once again when it faced the Cavaliers in a marquee matchup on Monday night, as Cleveland steamrolled the 4.5-point underdog Bulls by a score of 108-94. The offense made a mere 30-of-80 shots (37.5% FG) in the defeat, and was outrebounded 54-40. San Antonio has not performed too well when playing on the road at 12-10 (both SU and ATS), while Chicago has an identical 12-10 SU mark, but horrible 7-15 ATS record, in front of its fans. It has been all Spurs in this matchup since the start of the 2012-13 campaign, as they are 3-1 (both SU and ATS) and have won both their games when playing on the road. They last met last March 11 when San Antonio won 104-96 on the road and made 50.6% FG in the process; including 12-of-21 three-pointers (57%). Trends show that the Bulls are a putrid 0-10 ATS after five straight games committing 14 or less turnovers in the past two seasons, but they have also gone 69-44 ATS (61%) after two straight games where they had five or less steals since 1996. The injury report shows that SG Marco Belinelli (groin) will miss this one for the Spurs while SF Mike Dunleavy (ankle) is questionable and C Joakim Noah (ankle) is doubtful to play for Chicago.

Can the Bulls pick up a crucial home win 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 strong 56% ATS record (109-87-1) in featured games this season. In terms of Best Bets, the experts have a stellar 70% ATS (52-22) record since Jan. 2, led by StatFox Scott, who is a sizzling 73% ATS (16-6) in Best Bets since Dec. 21, improving his record to 56% ATS (35-27) for the season. StatFox Brian is 63% ATS (25-15) in Best Bets since Nov. 29, and is now 57% ATS (35-27) in season Best Bets, while StatFox Gary is 73% ATS (11-4) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 1, and 58% ATS (36-26) this season. StatFox Zach is 73% ATS (11-4) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 2, while StatFox Dave is 64% ATS (9-5) since Jan. 2.

The Spurs continue to be a solid offensive unit as they are putting up 102.0 PPG (11th in league) on 46.1% shooting (9th in NBA) while dishing out 24.6 APG (6th in league). Their defense has also done well, giving up 97.6 PPG (8th in league) behind 44.2% shooting (also 8th in NBA). PF Tim Duncan (14.9 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 2.0 BPG) remains an elite player at the age of 38 and has a double-double in three of the past five games. He did not perform well over the two games against Chicago last season, averaging 10.5 PPG (39% FG), 10.5 RPG and 1.0 SPG. SF Kawhi Leonard (15.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.0 SPG) is coming off a huge performance against Denver (17 points, 15 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block) and has produced 16.3 PPG, 9.3 RPG and 2.3 SPG in the three games since returning from a 15-game absence due to injury. Leonard faced the Bulls just once last season and had a solid performance with 16 points and nine rebounds) in 29 minutes. PG Tony Parker (14.7 PPG, 4.8 SPG) had an efficient outing against the Nuggets on Tuesday, scoring 18 points on 8-for-16 FG, while adding seven assists and four rebounds. He had some great games against Chicago over two meetings last season, scoring 20.0 PPG (50% FG) to go along with 7.5 APG.

The Bulls offense has improved by leaps and bounds this season, as they are netting 102.1 PPG (10th in league) on 44.5% shooting as a team. It seems that as their offensive game improves, their top defense from last season gets worse, as they have allowed a subpar 99.7 PPG with the opposition connecting on only 44.3% of their attempts. SG Jimmy Butler (20.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.8 SPG) continues to prove that he is morphing into one of the best players in the NBA, but has made fewer than 39% of his shots in three of his past five games. He had some of his best contests last season when facing San Antonio with 21.0 PPG (56% FG) to go along with 5.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG and 1.0 BPG. PF Pau Gasol (18.7 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 2.1 BPG) has posted a double-double in 8-of-11 January games and is averaging some big numbers in that time (21.6 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 2.3 BPG). He met with this Spurs team three times last season as a member of the Lakers, and averaged 20.0 PPG (47% FG), 10.7 RPG and 3.3 BPG. PG Derrick Rose (18.0 PPG, 5.1 APG) has been more aggressive of late and has scored 24.0 PPG over his past five games, as he averaged just over 18 attempts per game. He has started against San Antonio seven times over his injury-riddled career, and he scored 23.7 PPG (50% FG) and added 6.1 APG in those contests.