Chicago Bulls vs Toronto Raptors: Prediction and Betting Tips | January 18, 2024

There are five games on the NBA schedule on Thursday, including the Chicago Bulls vs Toronto Raptors matchup. It's the third meeting of the season between the two teams, with each team winning once. Let's look at the game preview, prediction and betting tips.

The Bulls are coming off a 109-91 loss to the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. They are ninth in the Eastern Conference and 3.5 games behind the Orlando Magic for the next spot.

Meanwhile, the Raptors started the post-Pascal Siakam era with a big 121-97 win over the Miami Heat. Siakam was traded on Wednesday to the Indiana Pacers as part of a three-team deal involving the New Orleans Pelicans.

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Chicago Bulls vs Toronto Raptors preview, prediction, odds and betting tips

The Chicago Bulls vs Toronto Raptors game is scheduled for Thursday at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It begins at 7:30 p.m. EST and will be televised nationally on TNT in the United States and SportsNet in Canada.

Moneyline: Bulls (-150) vs Raptors (+130)

Spread: Bulls -2.5 (-113) vs Raptors +2.5 (-107)

Total (O/U): Bulls -105 (o225) vs Raptors -115 (u225)

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Chicago Bulls vs Toronto Raptors preview

The Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors split their first two matchups of the season. Chicago won the first meeting 104-103 in overtime on Oct. 27, while Toronto got one back on Nov. 24 in a blowout 121-108 win.

Thursday's game is the 105th regular-season meeting between the two teams since their first on Nov. 7, 1995. The Bulls are ahead 56-48 in the all-time head-to-head matchup and have won six of the last 10 games since May 13, 2021.

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Chicago Bulls vs Toronto Raptors starting lineups

The Chicago Bulls have six players on their injury report, including Patrick Williams, who is questionable.

If Williams doesn't get cleared before the game, coach Billy Donovan could use a small lineup of Coby White, Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors have five players on their injury report, including the three they received from the Pascal Siakam trade. Coach Darko Rajakovic will likely stick with a starting five of Immanuel Quickley, Gary Trent Jr., RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes and Jontay Porter.

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Chicago Bulls vs Toronto Raptors betting tips

DeMar DeRozan has an over/under of 20.5 points against his former team, which is below his season average of 22.0 points per game. Based on his last six games, it might be better to bet on DeRozan to go under. He has not scored over 21 points in five of his last six.

Zach LaVine is averaging 20.0 points per game this season, which is slightly above his over/under of 19.5 points. LaVine is favored to go over despite scoring 10 and 17 points in his last two games. He might be due for a big game, so you can bet on him to score at least 20 points.

Scottie Barnes is favored to go under 19.5 points against the Chicago Bulls. Barnes is averaging 20.2 points per game this season but has only scored at least 20 points once in his last four games.

It's safer to bet on him to go under, as Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett have been on fire since arriving from New York.

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Chicago Bulls vs Toronto Raptors prediction

The Chicago Bulls are the slight favorites to beat the Toronto Raptors despite their blowout loss in their last game. The Bulls have a lot of rest heading into the game, while the Raptors are in the second game of a back-to-back.

Oddsmakers are predicting the Bulls to win and cover the spread and the total to go over.

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