NBA - NO Hornets v Chicago Bulls

29 January 2010

Preview By Tipster Jumbo (New Zealand)

The Bulls are on a strong roll here and would love for that to continue tonight as they visit the Chris Paul led Hornets.

The Hornets have won 2 on the trot and 4 of their last 5, they have just finished a 4 game road trip and are now back home looking to carry on what has been some good play for them, However I am still really not taken by them to much, they may be winning but they are really starting to turn their games into luck more than great solid play, the Hornets have beaten a very shorthanded Warriors side in their last match by 13 while allowing 110 pts before that it was a depleted Trailblazers side only winning by 1 point 98-97, they then lost to the Nuggets by 6 and allowed over 110 points, then they beat a bad T- Wolves side by 2 96-94 and in their last home game they beat the Grizzlies by 2 but allowed again over 110 points, the Hornets defence is not playing well and although they have some quality shooters in their side and great players in general you can’t win every game by allowing so many points, to maybe reiterate that fact they tonight face the Bulls who have stepped up in defence of late.

This Bulls side have a fair bit of talent and when they start to roll they are hard to stop, they go through ups and downs in their seasons like most sides do but with the Bulls it really is quite amazing as to how they can transform themselves for periods of their seasons, The Bulls should really show up here tonight and be confident they can win this match, The Bulls are on a long road trip and this will be the 6th game in a row for them playing away, They have won their last 4 with great play in defence especially and that could be a point of difference in tonight's match, I backed them in their last match against the Thunder which they won and am keen to go with them outright again tonight but the 4 on offer seems pretty fair, the Bulls have not beaten easy beats in this run and have really played well beating in their last 4 games of this road trip some big sides, Their last game was a 96-86 win over the Thunder, before that they beat the Spurs 98-93, Rockets 104-97 and the Suns 115-104, Confidence should be flowing through them right now after knocking over 4 great teams with the last 3 all being teams in pretty good form.

The Bulls are 6-4 in their last 10 against the Hornets and are 5-5 ATS in those matches, They have won 2 of their last 3 against the Hornets in New Orleans while the Total situation is 5-4-1 on the overs in those most recent 10 matches.

A lot of this game all depends on Paul for the Hornets and Rose for the Bulls, Paul is the better player but Rose has this Bulls side going great right now and so it really for me depends on other things like personal and recent form and in that regard especially form wise I like the Bulls to cover the spread.

When you consider that this Bulls side have beaten the sides they have in their most recent matches then you have to think that confidence is with the Bulls and if they can start well here they should be able to carry on with that feeling and that should have them in this game right up to their ears, In defence they have been great and shooting wise they have been gong great, they could fall over here due to maybe over confidence but a lot points to them at least making a real tight game of this, the Bulls in their last 10 games are 8-2, 3-0 at home and 5-2 away, they are 7-3 ATS in those matches and are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 away, so I like them ATS again tonight….Good Luck.