Indiana Pacers vs. Chicago Bulls 12/4/18: Starting Lineups, Matchup Breakdown, Odds, Daily Fantasy, Betting

Pacers vs. Bulls Matchup Preview

The Indiana Pacers (13-10) will play host to the Chicago Bulls (5-19) tonight. The teams faced off last month and the Pacers took the win 107-105, with Victor Oladipo leading Indiana with 25 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.

Things will look a bit different tonight, though, with Oladipo out and Fred Hoiberg no longer on the sidelines for Chicago after he was fired on Monday and replaced with former Pacers assistant Jim Boylen.

The Bulls are entering tonight’s game on a six-game skid, and their last two games, against the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons weren’t even close, which likely lead to Hoiberg’s firing. The Bulls are currently averaging 103.4 points per game, but they are being outscored, allowing an opponent ppg of 113.

The Pacers have been about the polar opposite, averaging 111 points per game and allowing 103.6., which has been good enough to keep them in the top half of the Eastern Conference standings, whereas the Bulls are tied for the worst record.

With Oladipo out, the key matchup will likely be between Zach Lavine and Tyreke Evans, but Thaddeus Young and the recently-returned Lauri Markkanen should be interesting as well.

TV Schedule

Date: 12/4/18
Time: 7:00pm ET
Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Channel: NBC Sports Chicago

Indiana Pacers Starting Lineup

PositionStarter
PGDarren Collison
SGWesley Matthews
SFBojan Bogdanovic
PFThaddeus Young
CMyles Turner

Pacers Analysis

indiana pacers
The Pacers have lost the last two games of their four-game road trip, including a close one in their most recent outing against Sacramento. Some of those struggles are likely due to the loss of Oladipo, who had missed six straight games before it was announced he would be out indefinitely on Saturday.

The Pacers have leaned heavily on Bojan Bogdanovic in Oladipo’s absence, and he came up big with 27 points against the Kings. Before struggling against Sacramento, Domantas Sabonis had also been playing a bigger role, including a 20 point, 15 rebound game against the Lakers. Sabonis has been averaging career highs in points, rebounds, assists, and field goal percentage in his sophomore campaign.

When the Pacers play well, it’s because they balance the scoring out and don’t rely too heavily on one scorer, and they get plenty of help from their bench. The Pacers are 6-0 when their bench scores more than 50 points this season.

Pacers Quick Links: Pacers Starting Lineup, Pacers Roster, Pacers Depth Chart, Pacers Injuries, Pacers News, Pacers Schedule

Chicago Bulls Starting Lineup

PositionStarter
PGKris Dunn
SGZach LaVine
SFChandler Hutchison
PFLauri Markkanen
CWendell Carter Jr.

Bulls Analysis

chicago bullsInconsistent is probably the word that sums up the Chicago Bulls this season at best. At times, they can look like a juggernaut on offense, like when they scored 40 points in the first quarter against Milwaukee last month. Then there are signs of defense when they limited the Rockets to just 18 points in the second quarter on Saturday

Most of the time though, it seems as though the train is coming off the track. The Bulls rely heavily on Zach Lavine, and when he can’t deliver a 25+ point performance as he has done many times this season, it usually equals a loss. Against the Detroit Pistons on Friday, Lavine shot just 3-of-12 for six points and the result was a 107-88 point thrashing.

The coaching change could be a shift in the right direction for Chicago, and having Markkanen back should also help. He made his season debut on Saturday against the Rockets and finished with 10 points and four rebounds in limited minutes. As he starts to get more floor time, he should be able to help Chicago on both ends of the floor.

The injury to Kris Dunn has not helped matters any either, but Ryan Arcidiacono has filled in admirably as the starter, as he’s averaging eight points and four assists per game. Against the Spurs recently, he exploded for a career-high 22 points, a feat in which he matched two days later against Milwaukee.

Bulls Quick Links: Bulls Starting LineupBulls Roster, Bulls Depth Chart, Bulls InjuriesBulls NewsBulls Schedule

Pacers vs. Bulls Betting Odds

The Pacers are currently 8.5 point favorites to win this game at home. The Pacers are 76-41 at home, covering the spread 65 percent of the time, while the Bulls are 36-81 on the road, covering the spread 20.5 percent of the time.

The moneyline opened at -400 for the Pacers with a line movement of +50. The Bulls opened at +300, but are currently at +275.

Odds & Line Movement Links: Indiana vs. Chicago Bulls, Vegas Odds (All NBA Games Today)

DraftKings & FanDuel Fantasy Picks

Value Picks: With Oladipo out, Tyreke Evans has been inserted into the starting lineup for the Pacers. While Evans hasn’t produced eye-popping numbers for Indiana, he produces in multiple categories, which could give you the edge in head-to-head matchups. It’s also a low risk, high reward type of situation as Evans has a salary of $5,300 on FanDuel and $5,200 on Draft Kings. On FanDuel, he’s projected for 29.6 points, whereas DraftKings has him performing even better at 30.46 points.

Although Jabari Parker is expected to have a good night, his salary hasn’t gone down much with his move to the bench. There are several options, but Markkanen might be the smart play here as he replaces Parker and should see more minutes. His salary is $6,200 on FanDuel and $5,400 on Draft Kings. He is projected for 25.9 points on FanDuel, and 26.6 points on DraftKings, making him an exceptional value at the latter.

Find all of our Fanduel and Draftkings projections here: https://www.lineups.com/nba/nba-fantasy-basketball-projections

Bet on Matchup

If you’re in Pennsylvania, you can bet on this matchup. Sports betting is legal in PA. Our top rated online sportsbook bonus offers can be found in our articles: Fanduel Sportsbook promo code, DraftKings Sportsbook promo code & Pointsbet promo code.

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Michael is Chief Editor at Lineups.com. He has decades of combined experience in traditional print journalism and online media and is the publisher of the Project Spurs Network, which includes 13 team-specific sports media sites and the flagship ProjectSpurs.com. He is also the creator of the first Spurs podcast and the longest-running sports podcast on the internet, the Spurscast, and was formerly the host of the News 4 San Antonio Sports Roundtable.

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