Chicago Bulls (18-6) at New York Knicks (8-13)

Date/Time: Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 8:00 pm, Madison Square Garden, NYC.

Game Overview:

The Chicago Bulls will try to avoid its first losing streak of the season when they face the New York Knicks tonight at the Madison Square Garden. The Bulls, who are in the midst of a nine-game road trip set to end on February 12th in Boston, are coming from a recent 98-82 loss vs. the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, which represents Chicago’s third loss in five games and the largest loss margin of the season (16-points).  

Though the Bulls are currently one of the most solid squads in the Eastern Conference, the team has been struggling with sensible player injuries.  Guard Richard Hamilton has missed more games (12) than he has played (11), and forward Luol Deng is likely to miss his seventh straight game due a ligament injury in his left wrist. Both Deng and Hamilton could miss the game against the Knicks; however, MVP Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah are at full-strength again.

Meanwhile, the Knicks have lost nine of their last 11 games, falling short of preseason expectations. Coming into this season, New York was expected to be one of the strongest contenders for the Atlantic Division title, but the team is already 7 1/2 games behind the first-place (Philadelphia 76ers). Despite its mediocre performance, the Kicks were able to recover from its losing stretch last Tuesday night with a dominating 113-86 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Forward Carmelo Anthony was able to return after a two-game absence and was 9 of 14 from the field, scoring 25 points against the Pistons. The match was New York's most efficient offensive game of the season in almost seven years. The Knicks shot 60% from the field against Detroit for its top performance since shooting 61.8 percent against the Golden State Warriors late in the 2004-05 season.

But while we wait for tonight’s game, here are the available NBA Odds and betting lines for this match:

Game Odds:

Chicago Bulls: -3.5, ML -165
New York Knicks: +3.5, ML +145
Game Total: 190, O/U -110

The NBA odds and lines above are at Wagerweb.com, a leading offshore sportsbook and highly recommended sponsor at inspin.com. The betting odds do change so please check their website here for instant updates. To open an account with them, please click here. For more NBA Odds, please click here.

NBA Trends

New York Trends

Knicks are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games as a home favorite of 0.5-4.5. 72.73%
Knicks are 6-17 ATS in their last 23 games overall. 26.09%
Knicks are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a home underdog of 5.0-10.5. 25.00%
Knicks are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games as a favorite of 5.0-10.5. 25.00%
Knicks are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600. 25.00%

Chicago Trends

Bulls are 9-1 ATS in their last 10 Thursday games.90.00%
Bulls are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games.83.33%
Bulls are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games vs. a team with a losing home record.83.33%
Bulls are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a road favorite of 5.0-10.5.83.33%
Bulls are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite of 5.0-10.5. 80.00%
Bulls are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a road favorite.80.00%

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