Game Time: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, October 23rd, 2021 

Venue:  United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Bulls -9:  O/U: 213.5

BetMGM:  Spread:Bulls -9:  O/U: 213.5

VegasInsider:  Spread: Bulls -9:  O/U: 213.5

Pistons: 0-1

Bulls:  1-0

Come one come all!  Get your first glance at the NEW LOOK Chicago Bulls!  The Bulls have revamped the roster.  They were already all the way in on SG Zach Lavine, but they swapped some guys for C Nikola Vucevic last season, they drafted PF Patrick Williams with the 4th pick in 2020’s draft, they added SF Demar Derozan in a sign and trade with the San Antonio Spurs this offseason, and to top it all off they received PG Lonzo Ball in a sweetheart deal with the New Orleans Pelicans.  They are all new and much more talented than in recent years.  They aren’t 90’s Bulls (who is?), but they are the best squad Chicago has put on the court since Derrick Rose went down with knee problems.

The Pistons are still the Pistons… they drafted first in the 2021 draft and landed the exciting PG Cade Cunningham!  We of course didn’t see Cade play in the season opener because he has a sprained ankle.  Hopefully we will see him soon because the Pistons’ fans have a little else to cheer for… except maybe adding another #1 pick this year too.  All humor aside There are some young guys who could blossom given the playing time they will get this season… The Pistons will be the youngest starting five in the league when Cade does finally play. They will not win a lot of games.

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RECENT FORM

In an OCT quirk of the regular season schedule, the Pistons open the season by playing the Bulls TWICE.  Back to back right off the bat.  Game 1 was played Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit… Neither team brought the offensive goods.  For the Bulls it was the first of 41 road games and they got the win 94-88.  They will immediately play each other again in Chicago and the matchup should feature more offense as each team will have seen the other play defense.

The Detroit Pistons scored only 88 points in their season opener.  They have a mostly rookie starting lineup, so low scoring is the most likely outcome.  The Pistons' two high scorers Jerami Grant (24 pts) and Seddiq Bey (13 pts) both shot 40% from the field.

The Chicago Bulls scored only 94 points in the season opener, which isn’t surprising as it is a mostly all new roster figuring out who should have the basketball.  The team shot 100% from the free throw line.  Well, Zach Lavine was 11 for 11 and Patrick Williams 2 for 2… and no one else got to the line at all.  Lonzo Ball missed 7 shots from the field going 5 for 12, but still managed to put up a decent statline of 12, 6, 4.  We expect Zach Lavine to lead this team in ppg, but they won’t keep winning if the PF and C combo keeps putting up just 21 points combined. 

Our prediction for Saturday, October 23rd is… Bulls 115  - Pistons 103

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The Pistons are 15-9 ATS when getting 2 days rest the last 3 seasons.

The Bulls are 7-0 ATS versus Detroit the last 3 seasons.

The Bulls are 43-30 ATS when playing a team with a losing record the last 3 seasons.

Injury Report:

Detroit:  PF Isaiah Livers (foot) Out Indefinitely *  G Cade Cunningham (ankle) Out Indefinitely

Chicago: SF Patrick Williams (shoulder) Probable * SG Coby White (shoulder) Out indefinitely

Pistons: PG Killian Hayes, SG Frank Jackson, SF Saddiq Bey, PF Jerami Grant, C Isaiah Stewart

Bulls:  PG Lonzo Ball, SG Zach Lavine, SF DeMar DeRozan, PF Patrick Williams, C Nikola Vucevic

Bulls:

Points: Zach LaVine 34

Rebounds: Nikola Vucevic 15

Assists: Nikola Vucevic 4

Steals:  Alex Caruso 4

Blocks Alex Caruso 2

Pistons:

Points: Jerami Grant 24

Rebounds: Saddiq Bey 9

Assists: Saddiq Bey 4

Steals: Cory Joseph 2

Blocks: Cory Joseph 1

Pistons:  Duane Casey.  Duane started as the Pistons head coach in 2018.  It has been a roller coaster ride… the team acquired Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers and he got injured multiple times.  The Pistons bottomed out when it became apparent they had to buy Blake out and move on from several other players as well.  We are at the start of a full rebuild and it will be interesting to see if Duane is along for the ride all the way through.

Bulls: Billy Donovan.  Billy smartly jumped from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Chicago Bulls in 2020.  It was apparent the Thunder were dumping everyone on the roster for picks… and trading for bad contracts and more picks.  It will be years before the Thunder recover from the fallout between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (also a series of really bad trades that didn’t pan out… James Harden, Domantas Sabonis) that detonated their team.  The Bulls are a better place to be.