Chicago just snapped an 8-game losing streak with a surprising OT win over the Atlanta Hawks last night. Norman Powell really stepped it up with 33 points, while Josh Giddey added a triple-double of 15 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. The win comes just 24 hours after the team announced their rookie sensation and 2nd leading scorer Caleb Wilson will miss extended time due to a wrist injury, but his absence didn’t have much of a negative effect. Chicago is a very erratic team, they love to push the tempo and on some nights they’ll surprise even the elite teams. Prior to the win over Atlanta (who aren’t elite btw), this team lost by just 5 and 6 points to the Spurs and 76ers thanks to their offensive execution.
A team that knows a thing or two about losing it’s top player are the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite no Ant Man, the T’Wolves have put together a 5-game win streak, with 4 of those wins coming by double-digits. LaMelo Ball has taken on extra responsibilities on offense in Edwards’ absence – he has upped his scoring average by 10 ppg compared to October. His efficiency has also gone up by an impressive 13.8% from the field and 13.4% from three. If these numbers keep up and Minnesota continues winning at this rate, Edwards doesn’t have to hurry back from his knee injury. Minnesota is by far the most reliable team against the spread this season, they’ve failed to cover only one time in 12 games played.
If there is one thing we can be certain about going into this game, it’s the fact that the Bulls will run. That’s the only style of play they know, right now Chicago leads the NBA with an average of 108.5 possessions per game. The T’Wolves aren’t behind by much, they’re 4th with 104.7 per game. A LaMelo Ball led team certainly won’t back down from an offensive challenge, I’ll be backing these two teams to go over the point total in this one.
Chicago Bulls vs Minnesota Timberwolves Predictions: Over 235.5 Points is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
