It’s Jimmy Butler versus Chris Paul today, as the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Clippers battle it out for one last time this season. The Bulls won the first meeting at the United Center and will hope to achieve the same results at Staples Center this time around. Can Butler lead the Bulls to a huge win? Or will Paul and the Clippers get their revenge?
Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Clippers Betting Preview
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
When: Sunday, January 31, 2016, 3:30 PM ET
Line: Chicago Bulls (+5.5) at Los Angeles Clippers (-5.5); total: 204.5– view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast:ABC
Betting on the Chicago Bulls (26-19)
[sc:NBA250 ]Chicago kicked off its longest road trip of the season on a very high note last Thursday night against the struggling Lakers, 114-91. The Bulls easily dominated this game as they took the commanding 32-15 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back since then. Leading the way for them was the trio of Jimmy Butler, Pau Gasol and Derrick Rose, who all combined for 63 points, 24 rebounds and 22 assists.
Now, the Bulls will look to take care of business once again when they head back to Staples Center for a date with the other and much-better Los Angeles team in the form of the Clippers. Chicago is 6-4 SU and 5-5 ATS in its last 10 road games.
All the attention’s bound to be on Butler, who holds a team-best of 22.4 PPG this season. He’s finished with 20 or more points in four of his last five games and is shooting the ball at a respectable rate of 48.8 percent. But across six career games opposite the Clippers, Butler has been limited to just 10.3 PPG on 30.6 percent shooting.
That said, the onus falls on Rose and Gasol to carry some of the scoring load again. Both are averaging 16.7 PPG and 15.3 PPG respectively this year. Gasol, in particular, should be able to have another big-time performance as he’s fared really well in this matchup, posting 17.0 PPG, 9.3 RPG and 3.5 APG throughout 42 career games. Gasol also has 26 double-doubles on the season, the fifth-most in the league.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, will look to keep winning without its beloved star in Blake Griffin. The Clippers, who have won 14 of 17 games without Griffin this year, march into this matchup fresh off a win on Friday night against the Lakers, 105-93. Starring in that game was none other than Chris Paul.
Paul finished with 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting and dished out a game-high of seven assists. But Paul’s stellar play wasn’t the main reason for the Clippers’ triumph. It was actually their 56-25 bench advantage which allowed them to hang on to the win. The trio of Lance Stephenson, Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford was the reason for this as the three combined for 48 points on that night.
A replication of this effort might be harder to do this time around against a Chicago Bulls defense that’s only yielding 87.6 PPG in its previous three contests. Nevertheless, Paul, who is posting 18.8 PPG and 9.6 APG this season, will hope that the loud cheers from the Staples Center crowd can provide the Clippers enough energy to do so. The Clippers are 8-2 SU and 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games at home.
On a defensive standpoint, the Clippers will have their hands full in this one. They’ll be going up against one of best shooting guards in the league right now—Jimmy Butler. Butler is putting up more than 20 points per game and is coming off a 27-point outing against the Lakers on Thursday night. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of approach that Doc Rivers will take in stopping a scoring machine like Butler. Los Angeles is surrendering 100.5 PPG this season.
