Atlanta Hawks vs. Chicago Bulls: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 1/23/2023

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: United Center, Chicago, IL

Where to watch: NBCSCH, BSSE-ATL

DraftKings: Bulls -1.5

FanDuel: Bulls -1

BetMGM: Bulls -1.5

Caesars: Bulls -1.5

Hawks: 24-23

Bulls: 21-24 

Hawks: lost 122-118 vs. Hornets

Bulls: won 126-108 vs. Pistons (Paris)

The Atlanta Hawks will try to rebound after having their five game-winning streak snapped over the weekend in which it will go against these suddenly defensively good Chicago Bulls who are trying to win their third straight.

The Hawks are coming off A122-118 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, a defeat that not only saw Atlanta as 7.5 point favorites fall harshly to the ground, but failed to win a game against an inferior team at home. On nights where you need your star backcourt duo of Trae 

Young and Dejounte Murray to produce, to an extent they did, but got help from no one else. Young had 25 points and 12 assists, while Murray had 26 points on 11 of 20 shooting, but it was a quiet night for John Collins who had just 11 points in 33 minutes. De Andre hunter did his part with 25 points on 10 of 16 shooting but the Hawks just did not have enough in the tank to slow down Charlotte's blistering shooting ability.

“They did a good job of blitzing us," Young said. “We’ll be better next time."

Short, sweet and to the point. Which sometimes that could be characterized as the Atlanta star guard, but I digress jokes aside. Nevertheless Atlanta has been playing much better as of late and that five game-winning streak was a small taste of what this team can really be when they are clicking on full cylinders and they are able to combine the talents of which they have and turn that big three into something special. But Atlanta has covered in just four of its last seven games so it's not like they are completely there as far as favorites on the books, but safe to say that they are playing well enough to where they should be favored in those games.

But that would have to require the opponent not remembering how to play defense, in which the bowls have absolutely remembered how to play defense over the last couple of games. Chicago was coming off that 126 dash 108 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Paris last week in which it got a strong effort from Zach LaVine scoring 30 points, and DeMar DeRozan finishing with 26 points and nine rebounds.

that was a strong effort from Chicago considering the fact that they were able to hold the Golden State Warriors to a total well below their value before they left for Paris. So right now, the bulls are playing some of their best basketball.

“It's great for people here in Paris to get an up-close look at the NBA," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “It makes you realize that the sport is followed so closely around the world. It was amazing. The place was sold out."

This is a very tricky one considering Chicago is favored by 1.5 at most books but I also want to think that Atlanta has something figured out with its star players to where it could actually blitz the Chicago defense. But I'm going to play it safe and take Chicago knowing that they're only laying a couple points and are playing as well as they have been right now. Bulls 120, Hawks 115

Betting trends

Hawks are 12-2 ATS on the road after a loss by 6 points or less the last 3 seasons.

Hawks are 15-27 ATS as a road underdog the last 2 seasons.

Bulls are 26-15 ATS as a home favorite the last 2 seasons.

PG: Trae Young

SG: Dejounte Murray

SF: De’Andre Hunter

PF: John Collins

C: Clint Capela

PG: Ayo Dosunmu

SG: Zach LaVine

SF: DeMar DeRozan

PF: Patrick Williams

C: Nikola Vucevic

Injury report

Hawks: None

Bulls: Lonzo Ball (knee, out)

Points: Trae Young -- 27.1

Rebounds: John Collins -- 7.7

Assists: Trae Young -- 9.8

Points: DeMar DeRozan – 26.1

Rebounds: Nikola Vucevic – 11.0

Assists: DeMar DeRozan – 4.9