The Atlanta Hawks (7-5) and Chicago Bulls (1-9) will square off in the NBA Cup tonight. Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. ET from United Center in Chicago, Ill. The game will broadcast live on NBA League Pass.
The Hawks are 7.5-point favorites over the Bulls on the spread, with the over/under set at 246.5 total points. The Hawks are -290 moneyline favorites to win outright, while the Bulls are listed as +236 underdogs to pull off the upset.
Let's get into my Hawks vs. Bulls predictions and NBA picks for Friday, November 13.
Hawks vs Bulls Prediction
- Hawks vs Bulls pick: Matas Buzelis 1+ Blocks (-249) | 2+ Blocks (+176) | 3+ Blocks (+563) | 4+ Blocks (+1500)
My Hawks vs. Bulls best bet is a Matas Buzelis blocks escalator, with the best price currently available at DraftKings. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live NBA odds page.
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Hawks vs Bulls Odds
- Hawks vs Bulls spread: Hawks -7.5 (-108), Bulls +7.5 (-112)
- Hawks vs Bulls over/under: 246.5 (-105o / -115u)
- Hawks vs Bulls moneyline: Hawks -290, Bulls +236
Hawks vs Bulls NBA Cup Preview
Atlanta Hawks Betting Preview
The Hawks are a very aggressive offensive team that attacks the rim, but they often do so with reckless abandon. As a result, they get blocked at the sixth-highest rate in the NBA this season.
The Hawks consistently challenge rim protectors, providing plenty of raw opportunities for athletic bigs to rack up defensive stats.
Chicago Bulls Betting Preview
The Bulls recently lost Caleb Wilson for a month, which triggers a rotational shift for Matas Buzelis. With Wilson sidelined, Buzelis slides back to power forward, which naturally puts him in a much better role to provide weak-side rim protection.
Buzelis's block rate currently sits at a concerning 1.9% this season, a massive plunge from the 4.3% he posted last year (and 4.5% in his rookie season). There is no logical reason for his block rate to have plummeted that drastically other than a slow start and playing out of position.
Now that Buzelis is back at the four, we should see those numbers positively regress. Last year, he recorded at least one block in 54 of his 77 games, had two-plus blocks in 36 games, and registered three-plus blocks in 18 games.
Hawks vs Bulls Pick, Betting Analysis
I'm playing a Matas Buzelis Blocks Escalator (1, 2, 3, and even sprinkling 4 blocks).
The current implied odds for him to get 3+ blocks are sitting around 12%, but he hit that mark in 23.4% of his games last season.
With Caleb Wilson out, Buzelis is going to continue to see his minutes rise. He's moving back to his natural shot-blocking position at the four, and he faces a Hawks team tonight that gets blocked at a top-six rate.
The math supports climbing the ladder on this obscure defensive prop.
Picks: Matas Buzelis Blocks Escalator (DraftKings)
