New Orleans Pelicans vs Chicago Bulls Prediction, 10/22/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Chicago Bulls

Date: Friday, October 22, 2021

Location: United Center in Chicago, IL

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

Odds/Point Spread: New Orleans (+6.5)

The New Orleans Pelicans (0-1) are headed to United Center on Friday where they will attempt to beat the Chicago Bulls (1-0). Chicago opens this contest as 6.5-point favorites. The betting total is set at 224.

The Pelicans played the 76ers and ended up losing by a score of 117-97 in their last game. New Orleans ended the game with a 41.9% FG percentage (39 of 93) and made 13 out of their 30 three-point attempts. From the free throw line, the Pelicans converted 6 of 9 attempts for a percentage of 66.7%. With regard to getting rebounds, they earned 44 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 28 assists for the contest in addition to forcing 5 turnovers and getting 5 steals. With respect to defending, New Orleans allowed their opponent to shoot 51.8% from the floor on 44 of 85 shooting. Philadelphia earned 47 dimes and had 24 steals for the matchup. Furthermore, Philadelphia pulled down 41 rebounds (6 offensive, 35 defensive) and had 6 blocked shots. Philadelphia finished the contest at 80.0% from the charity stripe by making 16 of their 20 tries. They converted 13 of their 25 attempts from 3-point land.

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Nickeil Alexander-Walker is someone who came through for the game. He ended up finishing with 23 points on 9 of 16 shooting. He was on the court for 34 mins and also collected 5 boards. Alexander-Walker ended up shooting 56.3% from the field and totaled 1 assist.

New Orleans will enter this contest after finishing with a win-loss record of 0-1 last year. They averaged 114.6 points per outing (9th in basketball) while going 47.7% from the floor. The Pelicans shot 34.8% on shots from downtown (762 of 2,190) and 72.9% from the free throw line. As a team, New Orleans grabbed 47.4 boards per game and earned 1,872 assists last year, which was 10th in the league in terms of passing the ball. They turned it over 14.6 times per contest and as a basketball team committed 18.0 fouls every game. On the defensive end of the court, the Pelicans were able to force 13.3 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 21.3 fouls. They conceded 38.0% on shots from downtown and they were ranked 24th in basketball in opponents PPG (114.9). The Pelicans allowed a field goal percentage of 46.9% (3,016 of 6,431) and they conceded 41.8 rebounds per game as a squad. They were 25th in the NBA in giving up assists with 1,866 conceded last year.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Bulls walked away with a victory by a final of 94-88 when they played the Pistons. The Bulls corralled 39 defensive boards and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 48 in this matchup. They turned it over 17 times, while getting 8 steals in the game. The Pistons had 16 fouls for this contest which took the Bulls to the free throw line for a total of 15 attempts. They were able to bury 13 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 86.7%. Concerning shooting from downtown, Chicago knocked down 7 out of 23 attempts (30.4%). In all, the Bulls went 37 out of 86 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 43.0%. The Bulls allowed the Pistons to make 36 out of their 90 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 40.0% for this game. They finished shooting 21.4% from beyond the arc by going 6 of 28 and ended up shooting 10 out of 13 at the free throw line (76.9%). When talking about rebounding, Chicago permitted Detroit to pull down 36 in all (11 on the offensive side).

Zach LaVine pitched in for the Bulls in this game. He buried 11 out of 17 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 64.7%, and had 7 rebounds. LaVine totaled 34 points in his 35 minutes on the court and had 4 dimes for the matchup.

Chicago had a win-loss record of 1-0 last year. The Bulls committed 18.9 personal fouls per contest and they went 79.1% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates was at 26.8 times per contest (8th in the NBA) and they lost possession via turnover 15.1 times per contest. Chicago totaled 7,969 pts last year (110.7 per game) and they grabbed 45.0 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Bulls connected on 47.6% from the floor, which had them ranked 9th in the league. The Bulls on the defensive end were ranked 14th in the NBA in PPG given up with 111.6. They forced 12.7 TO's every game and allowed teams to shoot 47.3% from the floor (23rd in the NBA). The Chicago defense surrendered 35.6% on 3-point shots (829 of 2,328) and their opponents converted on 77.4% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquished 24.1 dimes and 42.1 rebounds every game, which had them ranked 10th and 5th in those categories.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Chicago (-6.5)

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