Chicago Bulls vs Atlanta Hawks Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 12/21/25

Having back-to-back games against the Cleveland Cavaliers was exactly what the Chicago Bulls needed. They won both of those by double-digits, this should elevate some of the pressure on head coach Billy Donovan whose team is only 12-15 SU to start the year. The struggles that the Bulls have experienced in these first two months of the season are mainly on defense – this team gives up 115 points per 100 possessions which has them in the bottom 10 for efficiency. Combining that with the 3rd fastest pace has resulted in quite a few games in which opponents have scored 130 or more points, it’s hard to match those type of numbers offensively on a nightly basis.

Speaking of putting up big numbers on offense, in come the Atlanta Hawks. This team is in the upper tier of the NBA, averaging 117.6 points per game and with Trae Young coming back from injury you’d think that number will only go up from now on. The defense will suffer though, we all know how big of a liability Young is on the other end. In his time away from the team dealing with injury the Hawks have been very successful, which raises a valid question if it is possibility time to move on from the point guard. All of those will be addressed in the near future, right now the Hawks are facing a direct opponent in the play-in race in the East.

Neither side has impressed lately, but I have to side with the Hawks here despite their inconsistencies. Jalen Johnson is healthy and playing, he will be the best player on the floor on Sunday. For some odd reason the Hawks love playing on Sundays, they’ve won 8 of their last 9 games played on this day. I’ll back the home team here.

Chicago Bulls vs Atlanta Hawks Predictions: Hawks -3.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.