Outkick Bets: Betting Bulls/Pacers

Tonight there plays a game in Indiana in which you must be a die-hard to love, to even watch and maybe even monitor on a live-stats screen. Tonight, a division battle so mangled with injuries that we can only hope to recognize a player from either side. Tonight, we bet the Bulls/Pacers. The Bulls are sitting at -3 right now and the total is 230.

There's almost nothing to like about this game from a pure viewership standpoint. The Bulls are flush with fresh injuries to critical players like Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso. Coby White and Zach LaVine are listed as questionable for tonight. You got to be a fan to want to watch or just really love DeMar DeRozan. Or have money on it like I will. Indiana is in a very similar position from a core-player injury standpoint. Malcolm Brogdon, Domantas Sabonis, TJ Warren and Myles Turner are all out with various injuries. I can't like them to possibly win this game. However they did beat a .500 Clippers team with this lineup.

I have to play the total tonight. It's sitting at 230 and has tracked down a point since opening. I am playing the OVER tonight. The Pacers are 5-0-1 to the OVER in their last 6. Without all of their key players, you'd think it wouldn't be that way, but it is. The lineup as is played Charlotte to 284 points just nine days ago. In their last 6 games, we've seen 237, 238, 237, 223 (push), 284 and 230. That's against good, bad and .500 teams.

Chicago, despite their depletion, is tracking with some points too. They've crushed the OVER in four straight and five out of six. With game totals 247, 241, 246 and 253 in their last 5, there hasn't been much on the defensive side. In their last three games, Chicago and Indiana are actually the two worst defenses in the NBA and at home, there are only five teams worse than the Pacers. I don't see much standing in the way of these two. Both love to score in the paint and if we can get 10-12 three-pointers from each, we'll be home free. Take the over 230.