Bulls vs Nuggets Prediction, Picks for Saturday, Nov. 4
Here's everything you need to know about Bulls vs Nuggets on Saturday, Nov. 4 — our expert prediction and betting picks for today.
The Denver Nuggets already played today… well, if you're on the East Coast.
But both the defending champions and the once good but now middling Chicago Bulls are facing off on Saturday.
Both are coming off back-to-back games but with considerably different results.
The Nuggets opened their In-Season Tournament with a win over the Dallas Mavericks, while the Bulls dropped a tight one against the Brooklyn Nets.
They finished their game a couple hours later, but the Bulls — despite having a very slight rest edge — will be flying in from Chicago to Denver.
Let's get to our Bulls vs Nuggets prediction and actionable bets.
Bulls vs Nuggets Prediction
The Nuggets are admirably defending their title, save for a stinker against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which will happen now and again over the court of a long season.
Still, the team is 5-1 and difficult to beat on most nights, especially on a back-to-back where you have to travel.
Denver is elite offensively again, and so far among the better teams defensively.
Nikola Jokic came into Friday night averaging about 26-12-7, and he torched the Mavs for 33-14-9 while shooting 14-for-16 from the floor.
Jamal Murray (18 points and 13 assists), Michael Porter Jr. (24 points and nine rebounds) and Aaron Gordon (18 points, eight rebounds and six assists) are still incredibly reliable, and the bench in question has gotten production this season, namely from Christian Braun and Reggie Jackson, who combined for 17 points last night.
The Nuggets have no injuries of note as of this writing, with respect to Vlatko Cancar, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury.
Bulls in Purgatory
The Bulls are in NBA no man's land.
They're 2-4 and are expected to remain in the middle of the pack for much of this season. As it pertains to this game in particular, they're overmatched and will struggle to stop Denver, even with Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams.
Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan can still score, and Nikola Vucevic will get to his double-doubles, but the Bulls aren't scaring anyone, much less Denver.
Against the Nets, DeRozan and LaVine scored 24 each on eerily similar shooting (9-for-20 and 10-for-21, respectively), and Vuc had his 13 and 13 against the Nic Claxton-less Nets.
The Bulls will be without Ayo Dosunmu, who is day-to-day with an illness, but didn't make the trip to Denver, according to 670TheScore.
Nuggets Picking Up Where They Left Off
And now, we get into the prediction and other actionable bets for this match-up.
Bulls vs Nuggets Picks, Odds
| Bulls Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline |
+10 -110 | 214.5 -108 / -108 | +350 |
| Nuggets Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline |
-10 -110 | 214.5 -108 / -108 | -455 |
Here are bets I'm monitoring for tonight:
- Zach LaVine over 2.5 threes (+100 via FanDuel) — Interestingly enough, LaVine has hit this over twice in six games, but both were on the second of back-to-backs and on the road. I'm not at all a Zach LaVine truther, but I do like him in regular season games I won't particularly remember days from now. LaVine is shooting about 33% from three this season, which would be the worst of his career. He's a career 38% three-point shooter, so I don't mind taking him at plus odds to hit three of 'em, especially since the volume is there at over eight attempts per game.
- Nuggets 4Q spread -1.5 (-110 via FanDuel). Both teams are on back-to-backs. The Bulls are on their third and back on the road. On October 27, they were home against the Raptors then traveled to Detroit on the 28th. They were in Indiana on Halloween and traveled to Dallas on November 1. Against Detroit, they were outscored by nine in the fourth quarter, and against Dallas, they were outscored by 11. Even last night against Brooklyn, they held a two-point lead going into the fourth quarter and were outpaced by four points en route to a loss. And the Nuggets may end the season as the best fourth quarter team in the league.
