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Many experienced bettors believe the NBA is the hardest sport in which to pick winners.
A large reason for that is the wide variance. Occasionally, however, certain situations present themselves, as narratives could provide betting value.
I believe we have that with the Chicago Bulls, who visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday as five-point favorites with a total of 242.5 points.
Chicago is coming off a comeback 121-120 win over the lowly Washington Wizards. Rather than celebrate an exciting victory, Bulls center Nikola Vucevic criticized his team’s performance, calling it “soft” and below “NBA standards.”
The 15-year veteran is having a solid season, and his leadership has helped Chicago to a 9-7 start.
Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic. Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Under normal circumstances, the Bulls might take 2-15 New Orleans lightly. However, given Vucevic’s comments, I tend to believe the Bulls will approach this game properly.
Despite the awful record, New Orleans is 7-8-2 ATS so it is far from a punching bag. It has battled some injuries and typically shows competence at full strength. However, this seems like a good opportunity to back a focused favorite.
I have a 78-65-2 ATS record in this Post sports section and my next play is the Bulls laying the points.
The Play: Bulls -5 (-110, bet365)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Doug Kezirian is a New York Post contributor who has over two decades of experience in the betting space, including spending 11 years at ESPN as a host, columnist and betting analyst. He’s also the rare personality who has documented success – 14th place in 2023 Circa Million and Las Vegas SuperContest ($37K), two top-10 finishes in 2022 William Hill College Football Challenge ($58K) and also grabbed headlines with a $297K win on the 2021 NFL Draft.
