The Dallas Mavericks (38-42) will try to keep their Western Conference play-in tournament hopes alive when they host the Chicago Bulls (38-42) on Friday night. Dallas is one loss or one Oklahoma City win away from being eliminated from 2023 NBA playoffs contention. Chicago clinched the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference and is coming off a 105-92 loss at Milwaukee on Wednesday.
Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET from American Airlines Center. Dallas is favored by 8.5 points in the latest Mavericks vs. Bulls odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over/under is set at 220.5. Before entering any Bulls vs. Mavericks picks, you'll want to see the NBA predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past four-plus seasons. The model enters the final week of the 2022-23 NBA regular season a stunning 71-36 on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning more than $3,000. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
The model has set its sights on Mavericks vs. Bulls. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Bulls vs. Mavs:
- Mavericks vs. Bulls spread: Mavericks -8.5
- Mavericks vs. Bulls money line: Dallas -350, Chicago +275
- Mavericks vs. Bulls over/under: 220.5 points
- Mavericks vs. Bulls picks: See picks here
Why the Mavericks can cover
Dallas is a half-game behind Oklahoma City for the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament, so the Mavericks cannot afford a loss on Friday night. They snapped a three-game losing streak with a 123-119 win over Sacramento on Wednesday, as Luka Doncic finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Doncic is dealing with a thigh injury, but he is expected to play on Friday.
He leads the team with 32.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game, pouring in 42 points against Miami on April 1. Chicago has already clinched the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference and is coming off back-to-back double-digit losses, leaving the Bulls without any real motivation to win this game. The Mavericks have won five of their last seven home games against Chicago, who will be without DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Patrick Beverley on Friday.
Why the Bulls can cover
Dallas is just a half-game back of the final play-in spot, but it has to win two straight games and have Oklahoma City lose to Memphis on Sunday. The Mavericks are playing without Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Christian Wood and Maxi Kleber in this matchup. Irving is the team's second-leading scorer (26.7), while Wood is averaging 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Chicago has already clinched a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament, so it can play without any pressure on Friday. The Bulls dominated Dallas in a 144-115 blowout on Dec. 10, and Dallas has been playing worse since acquiring Irving. Chicago has won and covered the spread in five of the last six meetings between these teams.
How to make Mavericks vs. Bulls picks
The model has simulated Bulls vs. Mavs 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in almost 70% of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Mavs vs. Bulls? And which side of the spread hits in almost 70% of simulations? Visit SportsLine to see which side of the Bulls vs. Mavericks spread to jump on, all from the advanced model that has crushed its NBA picks, and find out.
