NBA Tuesday Preview & Free Pick- Chicago at Toronto

Bulls on Outside Looking in for Playoffs

The Chicago Bulls kick off Tuesday night’s NBA double header of action on ESPN with a trip north of the boarder to face the Toronto Raptors. BetAnySports opened Toronto as a 6.5-point home favorite for this 7 p.m. (ET) tip with the total set at 203. The line now has the Raptors as 7-point favorites and the total is all the way down to 198.

Chicago (33-37) is on the outside looking in as far as earning a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. With just two straight-up wins in its last nine games, the Bulls need to turn things around. It did manage to get past Utah 95-86 on Saturday. They were a 6.5-point home underdog on BetAnySports’ closing line. It was just the third time the Bulls covered against the spread during this nine-game slide. The total stayed UNDER 192.5 points in that game. The total has stayed UNDER in eight of their last 10 contests.

The Bulls got a big effort from Bobby Portis off the bench in Saturday’s game. The come-from-behind upset had Portis scoring 22 points. Jimmy Butler once again led the way with a team-high 23 points to match his scoring average of the year. Chicago has failed to score more than 100 points in eight of its last 10 games and on the year it is ranked 25^th in the league in points per game (101.8).

Toronto May be Peaking at Right Time

Toronto is building some momentum for the post season with a 3-1 record in its last four games (SU and ATS) while winning all three contests by double digits. It hammered Indiana on Sunday 116-91 as a 2.5-point home favorite after beating Detroit 87-75 last Friday as a 3.5-point road underdog with BetAnySports. The Raptors are 41-29 SU on the year with a 23-12 record at home. They have covered in four of their last six home games with the total going OVER in three of their last five games at home.

DeMar DeRozan led the way against the Pacers with 22 points and all five of Toronto’s starters ended that game in double figures. In the recent victory in Detroit, Serge Ibaka posted 17 points and nine rebounds to help lead the way. Overall, the Raptors are the 10^th-highest scoring team in the NBA this season with 106.9 PPG. They have also been solid on defense with a points-allowed average of 103.1 points.

Toronto has already lost to Chicago twice on the road this season; however given the current form of both teams I would lay the 7 points at BetAnySports and take the Raptors both SU and ATS on Tuesday night.