Karpuc’s Favorite NBA Bet On Monday’s Slate
Pick for February 7, 2022; Record: 21-12 (63.6%)
Dan Karpuc - Feb 7, 2022, 12:59pm ESTThe Pick: Suns -6.5 at Bulls
When you also factor in that DeMar DeRozan dropped 45 points in 41 minutes on Sunday, Nikola Vucevic has played 39, 37 and 36 minutes in his last three, the fact that LaVine is questionable, Coby White is questionable and the Bulls will also be without Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, Derrick Jones Jr., Marko Simonovic and Patrick Williams, Chicago (33-19 SU, 30-22 ATS) is in all sorts of trouble in this matchup against the NBA’s best team.
The Phoenix (42-10 SU, 29-22 ATS) offense should feast in this one, particularly CP3 and Ayton in the pick-and-roll and Booker from deep. The Bulls have been abysmal defensively over the last handful of games, ranking 3rd-worst in Defensive Rating while allowing 121.2 points per game to their opponents. Chicago also let their opponents shoot 42.4% from three-point range (highest percentage in the league) in that span.
Depth has been an issue in Chicago all season, but the current situation is even more dire. Matt Thomas, Malcolm Hill, Tony Bradley and Alfonzo McKinnie came off the bench for them on Sunday while Troy Brown Jr. and Javonte Green were in the starting lineup. All of those guys are arguably not even NBA-caliber players. While the Suns will be without Cameron Payne, Frank Kaminsky, Dario Saric, Abdel Nader and Landry Shamet, their core is in tact and most of their normal rotation will be active in this game.
I’d be surprised if Phoenix didn’t win by double digits considering the state of both squads.
