Bulls vs. Magic Prediction and Odds (Expect a Low Scoring Affair in Orlando)

Back on January 11th, the Chicago Bulls were sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference, getting ready to take on the NBA Champion favorite Brooklyn Nets at home with a shot to increase their lead at the top of the standings.

Since then, they've lost Zach LaVine (knee), Lonzo Ball (knee), and no Alex Caruso (fractured wrist) to injuries for perhaps the next several weeks to few months. The Caruso injury was even tougher for Bulls fans to swallow as Bucks forward Grayson Allen was involved in yet another dirty play that got him ejected from the ballgame.

Now, they travel to Orlando to face a Magic team that's at the bottom of the standings and losers of four straight games, but are a much shorter home underdog than most bettors would initially think even with the Bulls injuries piling up.

Here's how the oddsmakers at WynnBET see this early evening matchup:

Bulls vs. Magic Odds, Spread and Total

Spread:

• Bulls -3 (-110)
• Magic +3 (-110)

Moneyline:

• Bulls -165
• Magic +135

Total:

• 215 (OVER -110 | UNDER -110)

Bulls vs. Magic Prediction and Pick

The injuries to LaVine, Ball and Caruso aren't the only banged up Bulls, as they still don't have Patrick Williams (out since October), Derrick Jones Jr, and Javonte Green in their rotation. But even with DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, two All-Stars available for Chicago, I'm still very surprised to see this line as short as it is against an 8-win Magic squad.

I think the oddsmakers may know something I don't to have this line at this number, so I'm going to fade the spread entirely and focus on the total.

Both teams are middle-of-the-pack in pace, with Chicago ranking 13th and Orlando 16th, but defensively, the Bulls should still make life miserable for the Magic's offense, ranking 28th in offensive rating.

Chicago's defense isn't what it was at the start of the season when they were a top 10 defensive rated team, their fall has largely been a result of a few blowouts during this tough injury stretch, including giving up 138 in back-to-back games to the Nets and Warriors. They somehow only lost 94-90 to Milwaukee as a double-digit underdog on the road on Friday night, holding the Bucks to 38% shooting and 6-21 from three-point range.

The key for Chicago will be holding the Magic to under 100 points, where they have yet to win a game when they don't reach that "magic" (pun-intended) number. Expect a tough-nosed slow-paced game that Chicago will need to win to hang on for dear life in the East.

LEAN: UNDER 215 (-110)