The Golden State Warriors (36-9 Overall, 20-3 Away) meet the Chicago Bulls (17-27 Overall, 11-11 Home) tonight, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. E.T. in Chicago. The Warrior top the NBA Western Conference and are 4.5 games up on second-place Houston. They have won three-in-a-row and are 8-2 over their last 10 games. The Bulls are 12th in the NBA East and are a good six games out of playoff contention. They too have won three straight but are 5-5 in their last 10 games. Our Golden State plays Chicago 2018 NBA pick has the Warrior at -8.5 and the over/under at between 230 and 231.5.
The Warriors and Bulls Matchup
Golden State has a PF/PA differential at +9.5, while Chicago is at -5.6. The big difference is on offense where the Warrior are scoring on average 115.9 PPG and the Bulls are putting up 102.8. There’s also a discrepancy in points allowed as Golden State is giving up 106.8 PPG and Chicago 108.3. The Warriors are also superior in field goal percentage, besting the Bulls 50.9% to 44.1%, APG 30.6 to 23.7, and BPG 8.0 to 3.8.
PG Stephen Curry and SG Kevin Durant are one and two in PPG and APG with the former averaging 27.6 and 6.5 and the latter 26.4 and 5.3. Durant also has 2.11 BPG. The Warriors may be without their primary front court man, SF Draymond Green (11.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 7.6 APG). Green is both an important offensive and defensive force. Chicago has seven players in double digits in scoring. PG Zach LaVine, who has played in the last two games, is averaging 16.0 PPG while PF Nikola Mirotic is averaging 17.3 PPG and 6.9 RPG. PF Lauri Markkanen is also an important contributor, averaging 15.5 PPG and 7.6 RPG.
Other Factors
The Warriors have injury issues with Green nursing a shoulder injury and his backup, SF Omri Casspi (6.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.2 APG), out. Also, SF Andre Iguodala is day-to-day. Still, most of Golden State’s top scores, including SG Klay Thompson who is averaging 20.5 PPG. Thomspon, Curry, and Durant are all better than 41% from the three-point arc and are averaging amongst themselves about 50% from the field. This is the fourth of five road games in six days for the Warriors. This is Chicago’s third home game in five days.
Our Golden State Plays Chicago 2018 NBA Pick
Our Golden State plays Chicago 2018 NBA pick finds that this is the Warriors game to lose. We don’t think they will lose, but injuries may hamper their efforts. When these two teams met on Nov. 24 the Warrior won 143-94. We’re going with Golden State at -8.5. We’re taking the under at 231.5
Summary Warriors and Bulls Picks- Golden State at -8.5 and under 231.5
