NBA Betting Odds: Dallas Mavericks at Chicago Bulls

Added on Jan 19, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

The Dallas Mavericks are reeling at the moment, while the Chicago Bulls are dominating the Central Division with a 10 game lead. The two teams will face each other in one of three games on Thursday’s NBA betting docket and the Mavs desperately need to get some wins in book before they let the San Antonio Spurs get completely out of reach in the Southwest Division.

Dallas Mavericks at Chicago Bulls
January 20, 2011 5:05 PM Pacific

Based on the line offered by sportsbooks for this game, the Mavs may be getting more respect than the deserve at this point. Bulls are 15-6 SU in their last 21 games including 12-5 SU/ATS against the Western Conference this year. Mavs, meanwhile, have lost 6 straight and 9 of 11 both SU and ATS pending the outcome of last night’s home game against the LA Lakers. Despite this disparity in recent form, the Mavs are just -3′ point home favorites.

Chicago does have some injury issues, but they’re nothing new and/or unexpected. Joakim Noah is still injured, but he’s been out since mid-December. Carlos Boozer is starting his annual midseason act that infuriated Utah fans for so many years by responding to a minor injury (in this case an ankle sprain) like he’s been shot. That’s also no surprise and he’s listed as doubtful. Despite these issues, the Bulls have done well without both players this season–though obviously their defense will get a huge boost when Noah returns. Mavs have Dirk Nowitzki back in the lineup after he missed several games due to a back injury–watching the game between Dallas and the Lakers as we speak he’s moving fine and doesn’t appear to be suffering any lingering effects from his back issue or the layoff.

Dallas has dominated the head to head matchup in recent years, but at this point it looks like these teams are headed in different directions. Bulls were off last night while Dallas will be in the second of back to back games here and they’ve struggled against the Central Division this season (2-5 SU/1-6 ATS). We’ll lay the small price with the hometown Bulls.

Bet Chicago Bulls -3′ over Dallas Mavericks