Will the Wizards take revenge on the Bulls?
An exciting duel in the East is set for the clash between the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. The home side go into the encounter in first place in the standings and the duel already took place just under a week ago. Back then, the Bulls narrowly prevailed over the 1978 champions 120-119 thanks to a buzzer beater from DeMar DeRozan.
Now the hosts are looking for another win, but the pairing has not been a good place for the home side in recent times, with the visiting team winning four of the meetings. For what is sure to be another very entertaining game at the United Center on 7 January 2022, today’s NBA tip is presented below.
Chicago Bulls – Statistics & Current Form
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan can currently be very happy with the aforementioned DeMar DeRozan. The small forward achieved a historic feat with his three-pointer in the last direct duel with Washington.
Before him, no player in the history of the NBA had ever landed a decisive buzzer beater in two consecutive games!
The 32-year-old not only did this in the clash with the Wizards, but also on the previous night, when the team defeated Indiana in the Central Division.
The team also won the dress rehearsal for the upcoming game against Orlando, and the top team in the East is now on an eight-game winning streak.
Washington Wizards – Statistics & Current Form
The Wizards are in ninth place in the East standings and are delivering a decent season by their standards so far. The departure of Russell Westbrook to the Lakers has left hardly any traces and this is partly due to Kyle Kuzma, who was signed in return from LA.
The small forward has immediately acclimatised in Washington and is now an important pillar in the squad of head coach Wes Unseld Jr. However, the defensive performance of the team from the Southeast Division can be improved: Only eight teams in the NBA allow more points on 100 possessions than the basketball players from the District.
Chicago Bulls – Washington Wizards Tip
The basketball players from Chi-Town are the best team in the East and are strong at home. They have won 13 of their 17 home games so far – once again the best record in the Eastern Conference. However, Washington is an unpleasant opponent. This was also evident a few days ago, when the Bulls defeated the Wizards by no more than one point.
The tip for the upcoming edition of Chicago against Washington now again includes more than 111.5 points by the home side. The visitors’ already shaky defence has been on the wane of late, allowing an average of 118.3 points in their past three games.
With Chicago, as described, the in-form leader in the East is now also on the schedule, which in turn is one of the top teams in the NBA in terms of forward play. This is reflected in a very good fifth place in the NBA’s offensive rating.
Bet365 offers odds of 1.62 on the duel between the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards for the forecast.
