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Atlanta Hawks vs Chicago Bulls: Who will keep their playoff hopes alive?
The Atlanta Hawks and the Chicago Bulls are going into a must-win game tonight at United Center in Chicago.
The Hawks are not in good form
The Atlanta Hawks finished the regular season in tenth place in the Eastern Conference with a 36-46 record. They lost the last six games and are coming off a 157-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers. The Hawks are fifth in scoring 118.3 points per game and are ranked eighth in the league, making 79.7% of their free throw attempts. Trae Young leads the team with 25.7 points and 10.8 assists per game.
The Bulls have split the last ten games
The Chicago Bulls finished the season in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with a 39-43 record. They lost three of the last five games and are coming off a 120-119 overtime loss to the New York Knicks. The Bulls are allowing the most three-point attempts per game in the league and are ranked third in committed turnovers. DeMar DeRozan leads the team with 24 points per game.
Betting Trends
The Bulls have covered the spread in 8 of the last 11 games against the Hawks. Chicago is 4-2 ATS in the last six games overall, 10-4 ATS in the last 14 games against teams from the Southeast Division and 6-1 ATS in the last seven games played on Wednesday. Atlanta is 1-6 ATS in the last seven games overall and 2-13 ATS in the last 15 games against teams from the Central Division.
Prediction and Conclusion
Both Atlanta and Chicago have had poor seasons with losing records, and it seems pretty unreal that they are still in the playoff race. Trae Young is finally back for the Hawks, and they look way better with their main man on the roster. The Hawks lost the last six games, but that should not be considered a major problem since the Hawks were aware that they could not move anywhere from the tenth spot in the conference. The Bulls are without Lonzo Ball the entire season and are also without Zack LaVine. This will be an intense game since the losing team will finish the season. Details will make the difference, and we are going with the Hawks covering the +3.5-point spread.
