Game Time: 8:30 PM ET, Friday, January 28th, 2022 

Venue:  AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Bulls -1.5; O/U 228.5

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread: Bulls -2; O/U 228.5

WynnBet: Spread:  Bulls -2; O/U 228.5

Bulls: 30-17, 2nd place Eastern Conference

Spurs: 18-31, 12th place Western Conference

An NBA non-conference matchup from the bizarro world.  In the two decades and couple of seasons since Michael Jordan was a Chicago Bull the Spurs have almost always been the better team.  The Spurs had Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker during that time.  The Bulls had a collection of half-brained schemes to have the most teenage 7-footers… or the most undersized guards.. Or the most depressing injury losses.  The Spurs have been great and the Bulls have been… meh.  And then we got this year!  The Spurs have been on a 4 season decline since they were spurned by MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard… and part of rebuilding or rebranding or just making a change they sent SF DeMar DeRozan to the Chicago Bulls and he became an MVP candidate.. For the Bulls.  The Bulls are good again.  The Bulls are fun again.  The Bulls are in second place in the Eastern Conference and threatening to be good for a long while.  It can finally be fully and truly said that “the San Antonio Spurs are not as good as the Chicago Bulls”... It seems like an alien language.  

The Chicago Bulls have only won 4 of their last ten games… the losing has caused them to drop from 1st place to 2nd place.  The problem is that they have taken some losses to injury in almost a kharmic response to the fact they are one of the few teams that got to cancel a few games during the beginning of the Covid bloom of early December.  SG Alex Caruso, PG Lonzo Ball, and SF Derrick Jones JR are out… SG Zach LaVine also missed some games.  Except now Zach is back and paired with DeMar DeRozan make one of the best scoring combos in the league.

The San Antonio Spurs have only won 3 of their last 10 games.  The three teams they beat were the Houston Rockets, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Los Angeles Clippers… so yeah it hasn’t been going well.  The Spurs star is PG Dejounte Murray who averages 19.2 ppg; his backcourt mate SG Derrick White is Dejounte’s longest tenured teammate.  They are surrounded by an assortment of the NBA’s leading no-name role players.  Players like Doug McDermott and Jakob Poeltl are place holders.  The Spurs have been quietly waiting for draft picks like SG Lonnie Walker IV, Keldon Johnson to hopefully step up and take the reigns… they are taking their sweet time.  The new Spurs heir apparent is SG Devin Vassell the 11th pick of last draft…he plays OK… sort of like a cross between Derrick White and Lonnie Walker IV… It is going to be a long wait for San Antonio.

At the risk of sounding "cocky," I've made betting on the NBA look pretty easy this season. Yesterday's winner on Boston gives me a 34-16 (68%) YTD record with NBA sides! Not to be outdone, I'm also 7-2 L9 NBA totals! Though I ended up on the wrong side of Bills-KC, it was a 4-1 Sunday overall! My record over the L13 days is 33-19 with all picks! Go get it! Get Will Rogers’ picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Chicago is 30-17 on the season, but 27-19-1 ATS.  They have logged 23 Overs and 23 Unders and 1 Push.  They are 13-11 in road games.

San Antonio is 18-31 on the season, but 25-24 ATS.  They have notched 24 Overs, 23 Unders, and 2 Push.  They are 9-16 in home games.

Chicago is 11th in scoring with 110.4 ppg, 28th in rebounds with 42.9 per game, and 9th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8.  They are shooting 2nd in FG%, 1st in 3PT%, and 5th in FT%.  On defense they are 16th while giving up 108.6 ppg.

San Antonio is 10th in scoring with 110.9 ppg, 6th in rebounds with 46 per game, and 1st in AST/TO ratio with 2.2. They are shooting 12th in FG%, 15th in 3PT%, and 29th in FT%.  On defense they aren’t the best, they rank 23rd while giving up 111.1 ppg.

Our prediction for Friday, January 28th is….  Bulls 110 - Spurs 101

Bet on Demar DeRozan to play hard against his old club…. Really show the Spurs they were building the team in the wrong direction.  The spread is wicked close which helps the Bulls quite  a bit.  I say Bulls and the Under… but I’m only betting on the Bulls to win and skipping the O/U.

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The Spurs are 3-0 ATS versus Chicago the last 3 seasons.

2 of 3 games have gone over the total.

The Spurs are 1-0 ATS versus Chicago at San Antonio the last 3 seasons.

Bulls: SG Alex Caruso (wrist) Out ** PG Lonzo Ball (knee) Out ** SF Derrick Jones Jr (knee) Out

Spurs: SF Kenneth Bates-Diop (illness) Out

Bulls: SF DeMar DeRozan, PF Javonte Green, C Nikola Vucevic, SFG Zach LaVine, Pg Ayo Dosunmu

Spurs: SF Keldon Johnson, PF Doug McDermott, C Jakob Poeltl, SG Derrick White, PG Dejounte Murray 

Bulls

Points: DeMar DeRozan 26.4

Assists: Lonzo Ball 5.1

Rebounds: Nikola Vucevic 11.4

Steals: Alex Caruso 1.9

Blocks: Nikola Vucevic 1.2

Spurs

Points: Dejounte Murray 19.2

Assists: Dejounte Murray 9.1

Rebounds: Jakob Poeltl 9.0

Steals: Dejounte Murray 2.0

Blocks: Jakob Poeltl 1.7

Bulls: Billy Donovan.  Coach Donovan is a two-time college Championship coach… pretty impressive stuff!

Spurs:  Gregg Popovich.  Coach Popovich is a 5x NBA Championship coach with more wins than almost anyone could even imagine an NBA coach would one day have.  If the Spurs win just a few more games, he will pass Lenny Wilkens and Don Nelson for most regular season wins of all time.  He already has the most wins if you combine regular season and postseason.