Game Time: 3:30 PM ET, Sunday, February 6th, 2022 

Venue: United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:   Philly -1

BetMGM:  Spread:  

VegasInsider:  Spread:  Philly -1; O/U 217.5

WynnBet: Spread:  Philly -1.5; O/U 217.5

76ers: 31-21, 5th place Eastern Conference

Bulls: 33-19, 1st place Eastern Conference

Normally when the number 1 team plays the number 5 team in either NBA conference the results feel pretty predetermined.  Not this year.  This year in the Eastern Conference there is a bottleneck of good teams, could be great teams, partially injured teams, ready to contend teams… whatever you call them there are 5 of them.  The Chicago Bulls, the Miami Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Philadelphia 76ers.  The Eastern Conference right now is knotted tight and ready to rupture.  The #5 Philadelphia 76ers are just 2 games behind the #1 Chicago Bulls… A good week for any of these teams could land them solely in first place… a bad week could land them in 5th (just ahead of the rapidly sinking Brooklyn Nets). This game in particular will highlight two of the league’s best players this season.  Center Joel Embiid for the Philadelphia 76ers is playing amazing basketball, at 29 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 4.4 apg he is the reason the 76ers win games and he is a legitimate MVP candidate…. Like most seasons his MVP award may be given to someone else because he has missed 12 games with a injury/covid/rest.  Missing games is the only weakness in Embiid’s game historically.  The Bulls have SF DeMar DeRozan.  DeMar was written off 4 seasons ago when he was traded by Toronto to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and then the Raptors won the NBA Championship without him.  The casual fan has not considered that we have no proof that Kawhi made the difference in Toronto… New that year (in toronto) was Head Coach Nick Nurse, undrafted PG Fred VanVleet finally got some minutes, also young talented PF Pascal Siakam went from 20 min a game to 30 min a game.  We don’t know whether the Raptors simply would have won with DeMar still in the fold…. What we do know is it’s 4 years later and Kawhi destroyed the Clippers and hasn’t played meaningful basketball since… while DeMar is averaging 26.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, and 5.1 apg. Demar was an offseason addition to the Chicago Bulls in a sign and trade that sent a first round pick and some lesser players to the Bulls.  The Bulls may have ended up making the best trade of the last few years in that one deal.  DeMar seems pretty happy about it as well.  He is often mentioned as a “dark horse candidate” in MVP discussions… I don’t know why?… He is a full MVP candidate in my book.

The Philadelphia 76ers have lost their last two games to the Dallas Mavericks and the Washington Wizards.  So, now they have won 6 of their last ten games.  The specter that keeps looming over the 76ers is of course SG/PG Ben Simmons is still throwing his tantrum and hasn’t played a single game.  The indecision over what to do with him is the largest factor holding this team back.  He doesn’t play so they don’t have his production which is huge on the defensive end… the front office hasn’t given in to any old trade so they don’t have players to make up for the loss of production.  The Sixers do not want to trade Ben Simmons without getting FULL VALUE in return.  Other teams don’t seem to think Ben Simmons is all that valuable since he can’t shoot and doesn’t want to play his way through a problem.  Any team that trades for him would have to worry that if they ever offended him in any way he would hold out on them as well.  Offending him could be as easy as asking him to take shots in practice and games… something he is simply too afraid to do.  The trade deadline is days away… Philly has a clear choice:  1) Trade Ben for whatever you can get and make an honest run at the Finals, 2) Don’t trade Ben and wind up with too much for Joel Embiid to handle on his own… and miss the Finals completely.  The choice is Philly’s.

The Chicago Bulls were this season’s surprise in the Eastern Conference.  For years and years, bleeding into decades, the Bulls have been awful.  A team unable to find more than one star at a time, a team that couldn’t get the Head Coach right, a team that made bad trades, and often missed the “lucky” pick in the draft.  Then something happened 1 ½ seasons ago… The Bulls started swapping young players, draft picks, practically anyone in real honest moves to get better… heck..  be better now.  It worked.  The player they had originally decided to build around is SG Zach LaVine.  To him they added C Nikola Vucevic, PG Lonzo Ball, SG Alex Caruso, and SF DeMar DeRozan.  They hung onto a couple of their young guys: SG Coby White and PF Patrick Williams.  The result is an excellent team with enough depth to sustain some losses to injury… and they have had lots of those.  The Bulls won’t be caught complaining though.  They are #1 in the East with ⅓ of the season to go.  They will need full health in time for the playoffs to do any real damage, but they are on track to get there.  They have won 6 of their last ten games.  They need enough wins to stay in the top 4 teams in the East to open the playoffs on their home court… they would like to stay in first to get home court all the way through.  The Bulls have not seen a first place finish since MJ rocked the jersey.

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The 76ers are 31-21 on the season, but 25-26-1 ATS.  They have logged 20 Overs, 30 Unders, and 2 Push.  They are 17-10 in road games.

The Bulls are 33-19 on the season, but 30-21-1 ATS.  They have notched 28 Overs, 23 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 19-6 in home games.

The 76ers are 21st in scoring with 107.6 ppg, 30th in rebounds with 42.2 per game, and 9th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8. They are 11th in FG%, 12th in 3PT%, and 5th in FT%.  They are 8th in defense while allowing a stingy 105.6 ppg from opponents.

The Chicago Bulls are 8th in scoring with 111.7 ppg, 27th in rebounds with 43.1 per game, and 7th in AST/TO ratio with 1.9.  They are shooting 2nd in FG%, 3rd in 3PT%, and 4th in FT%.  They rank 17th on defense while allowing 109.8 ppg from opponents.

Our prediction for Sunday, February 6th is….  Chicago 111 - 76ers 105

The Bulls are up against a tough decision. SG Zach LaVine is listed as Questionable with back spasms.  Though he sat out last game and should be fine now.  The decision is whether to play him to guarantee a win over the Sixers or do they sit him to keep him right for the rest of the season.  You should view your bet the same way.  Bulls if Zach plays, Philly if he doesn’t… listen to the game coverage and bet right before you are locked out.  Something else to watch out for is of course the sudden hold out of players while a trade is being taken seriously… the trade deadline is less than a week away and that will happen to somebody.  The team more likely to sit players because of a working trade is Philly.  The Bulls have done their trading and are pretty set.  Philly may suddenly hold out Tobias Harris as they are actively shopping him (and his huge salary) if a Ben Simmons deal requires pieces from a third team to get done.  Keep an eye on it.  

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Philly is 6-1 ATS versus Chicago over the last 3 seasons.

Philly is 3-0 ATS versus Chicago at Chicago the last 3 seasons.

This series played at Chicago has produced 28 Overs and 19 Unders since 1996.

Philly: SG Furkan Korkmaz (knee) Quest ** PG Shake Milton (back) Out indefinitely ** SG/PG Ben Simmons (tantrum) Out indefinitely… may be in a new uniform by the end of the week.

Philly: SF Tobias Harris, PF Matisse Thybulle, C Joel Embiid, PG Tyrese Maxey, SG Seth Curry

Bulls: SF DeMar DeRozan, PF Javonte Green, C Nikola Vucevic, SG Troy Brown Jr, PG Zach LaVine

Philly

Points: Joel Embiid 29

Assists: Tyrese Maxey 4.8

Rebounds:  Joel Embiid 10.9

Steals: Matisse Thybulle

Blocks: Joel Embiid 1.5

Bulls

Points: DeMar DeRozan 26.6

Assists: Lonzo Ball 5.1

Rebounds: Nikola Vucevic 11.7

Steals: Alex Caruso 1.9

Blocks: Nikola Vucevic 1.2

76ers: Doc Rivers

Bulls: Billy Donovan