The Chicago Bulls are in danger of falling back to .500 in the 2025-26 season, as they are favored by just 2.5 points on the road against the lowly Charlotte Hornets.
There are several rotation players – Coby White, Nikola Vucevic, Isaac Okoro, Patrick Williams and Kevin Huerter – on the injury report for the Bulls in this matchup.
Charlotte is just 4-14 this season and was blown out by the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, so bettors may not want to take the points with LaMelo Ball and company tonight.
I do have a player prop for Ball that I love, as well as a prediction for this Eastern Conference NBA Cup battle.
Here’s a look at the odds, injury reports, my favorite prop and more tonight’s matchup.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Spread
Moneyline
Total
Bulls Injury Report
Hornets Injury Report
Hornets Best NBA Prop Bet
In today’s best NBA prop bets column for SI Betting, I broke down why Ball may be undervalued in this market:
Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball has struggled shooting the ball this season, averaging 20.3 points per game while shooting just 38.6 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from 3.
But, he’s been great as a passer, averaging 8.8 assists per game, and has a solid matchup against a Chicago Bulls team that ranks just 24th in the NBA in opponent assists per game.
Ball has cleared 7.5 dimes in nine of his 11 games, but he has failed to do so in back-to-back matchups. I still think this is a buy-low spot for Ball, as he’s averaging 13.2 potential assists per game.
He should be able to get out in transition and rack up some easy dimes against a Chicago team that is No. 2 in the NBA in pace this season.
I don’t want to bet on a Hornets team that has just four wins in the 2025-26 season, but Chicago is also just 2-6 against the spread as a favorite (7-2 against the spread as an underdog).
So, I’m eying the total in this matchup, and am leaning towards the UNDER.
The UNDER has hit in six of the Hornets’ nine games at home and 10 of their 18 games overall this season.
While the Bulls are No. 2 in the league in pace, neither of these offenses is overly efficient, ranking 17th (Chicago) and 18th (Charlotte) in offensive rating. With the Bulls potentially down several players on Friday, I have a hard time betting on the OVER on this number with it pushing 250.
The Hornets have just four games all season that have reached 250 total points, including one that was an overtime matchup. I’ll go UNDER on this NBA Cup clash tonight.
Pick: UNDER 248.5 (-108 at DraftKings)
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.
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