Bulls vs. 76ers Betting Odds, Pick & Prediction: Can Chicago Stay Hot to Start 2021 NBA Season?

Bulls vs. 76ers Odds

On Wednesday night, we have a clash of two early powerhouses in the Eastern Conference.

The Chicago Bulls are coming into this game against the Philadelphia 76ers riding high off a 19-point comeback win over the Boston Celtics, giving them a 6-1 record that is tied for the NBA's best entering Wednesday. The Sixers, meanwhile, are 5-2 without Ben Simmons and not at 100% in terms of health.

Do the Bulls have value in matchup that's expected to be tight? Let's dig into both teams and find out.

Bulls Off To Red-Hot Start

The Chicago Bulls are a different type of beast this season. They are led by the dynamic duo of Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan and are off to a hot start. Both LaVine and DeRozan are on a tear of late, scoring 20 or more points in each of their last four games.

The Bulls are not just winning, but they are covering. They're 6-1 against the spread (ATS) as well as straight-up (SU).

This Bulls team is not just a one-sided attack, as it gets the job done on both ends of the floor. Chicago ranks seventh in Offensive Rating and sixth on defense, which gives them the fourth-best Net Rating in the league, according to NBA Advanced Stats.

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Making them a perfectly balanced team, now a much slept-on third piece to the Bulls puzzle is big man Nikola Vucevic who’s averaging a quiet double-double at 14.3 points per game and 11 rebounds per game. Where his effectiveness comes into play isn’t on the offensive side of the ball.

Nikola Vucevic isn't just averaging a double-double on offense as a proven scorer and playmaker, but he is also the anchor of this defense. He ranks fifth in the NBA in Defensive Rating among all starting centers, one spot ahead of last year’s Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert, per NBA Advanced Stats.

Per Bet Labs, when the Bulls have been a road favorite over the last six seasons against the 76ers, they're 6-0 SU, excluding the 2017-18 season. Two micro trends we have in our favor as well are Bulls are 5-0 ATS in their last five games when their opponent allowed 100 points or more points in their previous game, and Bulls are 4-0 ATS in their last four games played on one day's rest.

Philly's Top-Two Scorers' Status in Question

The 76ers come into this game with two very big question marks surrounding the health of Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid, both of whom are questionable. Harris and Embiid are the keys to this highly efficient offense that leads the NBA in field goal percentage while also managing to sneak themselves inside the top five as well in three-point percentage per NBA Advanced Stats.

Harris appears more likely to be out since he's in the league's health and safety protocols, while Embiid sat out the Sixers' last game against Portland due to what the team called "rest."

The Sixers on the surface look like they are in a great spot at home off a nice team victory, but this 5-2  record (4-3 ATS) is very misleading. Philly's five wins have come against bottom-tier teams, beating the 3-4 Blazers their last time out.

Philadelphia is 1-4 ATS in their last five games following an ATS win. The books seem to give the Sixers too much credit on their wins setting them up to fall short in their next game due to the fact they beat up on poorly coached teams. The Bulls will not be another slouch, though.

Bulls-76ers Pick

This is a great value spot here to back the Bulls' moneyline.

Over the past four seasons, when two teams are coming off wins with a double-digit margin of victory, the home team's value is inflated coming off a strong performance. It has been more profitable to bet the road team in spots like this.

With this trend being active on the Bulls, the Sixers being handcuffed without Simmons and maybe both Harris and Embiid, getting arguably one of the best teams to start this NBA season at almost even money is intriguing.

Take the Bulls on the ML in the range of +110 to -120 to beat the over-inflated perceived value Sixers on the road with ease.

Pick: Chicago Bulls ML (+110 to -120)