After a strong close to the regular season, the Toronto Raptors find themselves matched up with the Chicago Bulls in the Play-In Tournament.
Chicago’s regular season has to be considered a disappointment after a lot of hype heading into the season, even if some of it was crushed by the injury to Lonzo Ball. Still, there’s an opportunity right in front of this team for the taking here.
With two wins, one of these teams finds itself in the playoffs. Let’s get to some Raptors vs Bulls best bets and predictions.
Raptors vs Bulls Odds
NBA odds used for these best bets are current as of April 10 at 5 p.m. ET and were found at DraftKings Sportsbook.
- Moneyline: Raptors (-200) • Bulls (+170)
- Spread: Raptors -5 (-110) • Bulls +5 (-110)
- Total Points: Over 214.5 (-110) • Under 214.5 (-110)
Raptors vs Bulls Prediction
Raptors 109, Bulls 98
I do agree with the total here. Both teams will play great defense if their respective top-five rankings in efficiency rating on that end since the All-Star break have anything to say about it.
With that being said, Toronto has the edge.
The Raptors have broken through some of the best defenses in baseball over the last couple of months, and they asserted their dominance over Chicago with two wins in three regular-season meetings.
Most importantly, they were able to win by six in the lone meeting that took place after November and did an excellent job inside by out-rebounding Chicago.
Raptors vs Bulls Best Bet
Raptors -5 (-110) • DraftKings Sportsbook
WAGER: 1 unit
I’ll continue to wax poetic here about the Raptors for this NBA bet of the day.
It’s a big feather in their cap that they were able to out-rebound the Bulls by double digits and also withstand 23 points from Nikola Vucevic inside. On top of that, the perimeter defense was exceptional, limiting Alex Caruso and Zach LaVine to 23 points.
It’s also rather staggering that the Bulls hit 40% of their threes and still lost in such a convincing fashion. It speaks to how well the Raptors did inside, and rebounding is a huge deciding factor for me when it comes to the playoffs — especially with Pascal Siakam patrolling underneath.