Indiana Pacers vs Chicago Bulls Prediction, 12/26/2020 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Indiana Pacers vs Chicago Bulls

Date: Saturday, December 26, 2020

Location: United Center in Chicago, IL

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

Odds/Point Spread: Indiana (-3.5)

The Indiana Pacers (45-28 last season) travel to United Center on Saturday where they'll meet the Chicago Bulls (22-43 last year). The spread on this contest has Indiana as 3.5-point favorites. The total has been set at 220.5.

The Indiana Pacers faced the New York Knicks and took home the win by a score of 121-107 in their last contest. Indiana finished the game with a 48.9% field goal percentage (46 of 94) and made 8 of their 34 three-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Pacers converted 21 of 29 shots for a percentage of 72.4%. When it comes to rebounding, they earned 50 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. They also dished out 28 assists for this contest in addition to having 6 steals and 9 blocked shots. When discussing defending, Indiana allowed 45.9% from the floor on 39 out of 85 shooting. New York distributed 25 dimes and had 8 steals for this contest. Moreover, the Knicks had 40 boards (5 offensive, 35 defensive) and got 8 blocked shots. New York ended up shooting 73.9% when shooting free throws by making 17 of 23 tries. They made 12 of 28 shots from distance.

Domantas Sabonis is one player who played a role in the game. He accounted for 32 points on 11 of 18 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 36:48 mins played and also grabbed 13 rebounds. Sabonis walked away from this one shooting 61.1% from the floor and also earned 5 dimes. Someone else that was a major factor in this contest for the Pacers was Malcolm Brogdon. He pulled down 7 rebounds and tallied 8 dimes. He went 50.0% from the floor in the matchup by going 8-of-16 (21 points). When all was said and done, Brogdon was on the hardwood for 34:51 min.

Indiana will play this contest after finishing with a mark of 45-28 last year. They averaged 109.4 pts per contest (23rd in the NBA) on 47.6% from the field. The Pacers shot 36.3% on three-point shots (743 of 2,046) and 78.7% from the free throw line. As a unit, Indiana grabbed 42.8 rebounds per contest and sat with 1,888 assists last year, which ranked 7th in the league in terms of passing. They lost possession by turning the ball over 13.2 times per game and as a unit committed 19.8 fouls on a nightly basis. On the defensive end, the Pacers were able to force their opponents into 14.7 turnovers per game while drawing 18.8 fouls. They were ranked 12th in basketball in giving up assists with 1,686 surrendered last season. The Pacers allowed a FG percentage of 44.6% (2,883 of 6,459) and they conceded 45.2 rebounds per contest as a team. They gave up 34.1% on 3-pointers while they were 3rd in the league in points per game allowed (107.5).

In their last game, the Chicago Bulls took a loss by a score of 124-104 when they faced the Atlanta Hawks. The Bulls pulled down 29 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 37 in this game. They blocked 3 attempts while recording 10 steals in this game. The Hawks had 29 fouls for the game which got the Bulls to the charity stripe for a total of 28 attempts. They were able to bury 24 of them for a clip of 85.7%. With respect to 3-point attempts, Chicago converted 8 of their 35 attempts (22.9%). When the game finished, the Bulls ended up going 36 out of 87 from the field which had them at 41.4%. The Bulls allowed the Hawks to convert 43 out of 80 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 53.8% in this contest. They finished 40.0% from beyond the arc by shooting 14 out of 35 and ended up shooting 24 of 29 at the charity stripe (82.8%). When talking about cleaning up the glass, Chicago allowed Atlanta to pull down 46 in total (8 on the offensive glass).

Patrick Williams ended up being a factor for the Bulls for this game. He buried 5 of 11 in the game for a field goal rate of 45.5%, which had him sitting at 16 points. Williams grabbed 4 rebounds in his 33:03 minutes of time on the court and had 2 dimes in this game. An additional guy that ended up playing a role for Chicago was Lauri Markkanen. He ended up with 21 points in his 30:12 minutes played by going 6 of 9 shooting in the matchup. Markkanen walked away from this one going 66.7% from the field while also collecting 4 assists and 7 boards.

Chicago had a win-loss mark of 22-43 last season. Chicago accumulated 6,945 pts last season (106.8 per game) and they averaged 41.9 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Bulls shot 44.7% from the floor, which ranked 26th in basketball. The Bulls were responsible for committing 21.8 fouls per game and they connected on 75.5% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates was at 23.2 times per contest (23rd in the league) and they lost possession via turnover 15.5 times per game. The Bulls defensively were ranked 14th in the league in points per game surrendered with 109.9. The Chicago defense gave up 35.3% on shots from beyond the arc (726 of 2,057) and their opponents made 75.9% of their free throw shots. They were able to force 18.3 TO's every game and allowed teams to shoot 47.9% from the field (27th in the NBA). They allowed 25.4 dimes and 45.5 rebounds every game, which ranked them 25th and 20th in the league.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Chicago (+3.5)

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