CHICAGO BULLS (8-8)
at CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (4-14)
Tip-off: Wednesday, 8:05 p.m. ET Line: Chicago -3.5, Total: 184 The Cavaliers are looking to snap a two-game losing streak when the Bulls come into town on Wednesday night. Dion Waiters is a game-time decision for the Cavaliers, who are already without their star point guard, Kyrie Irving. These key injuries are big reason why they have lost 12 of 14 games (6-8 ATS) since starting the year 2-2. The Bulls ended a two-game win streak in Tuesday's 80-76 home loss to Indiana. That drops them to 8-8 SU and 4-12 ATS this season while playing without Derrick Rose. Can the Bulls bounce back from Tuesday's loss with a convincing win? For the answer, connect to NBA Best Bets for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2012-13 season. The experts continue to stay sizzling on NBA Best Bets since Nov. 26, going a collective 32-16 ATS (67%) with StatFox Gary going 7-1 ATS. For NBA Totals, StatFox Scott is 33-13 (73%) on NBA Totals for the season, while Gary is a tremendous 12-1 in Totals since Nov. 24, and is 59% (19-13-1) on totals this season. For Best Bets, the experts are a collective 105-88-8 ATS (54.4%) this year. StatFox Gary leads the way at 67% ATS (18-9-2) Best Bets for the year, as he's currently on a 13-4 ATS (76%) run since Nov. 17. StatFox Scott's 10-4 ATS run puts him at 60% ATS (27-18) Best Bets for the season, while StatFox Brian's 7-4 ATS surge puts him at 53% ATS (27-24-3) for the year. The Bulls are playing superb defense, ranking fourth in the NBA with 91.3 PPG allowed. In Rose’s absence this season, SF Luol Deng has really stepped up for the Bulls. Deng is averaging 18.0 PPG and 7.4 RPG on 45% FG. Deng is also starting to find his stroke from beyond the arc where he is shooting 44% (7-for-16) over the past five games, a huge jump from his 24% clip (8-for-33) in his first 11 games. The anchor, however, for this Bulls team has been C Joakim Noah. Noah is averaging a career high in points at 13.0 PPG while adding 9.7 RPG and a career-high 2.3 BPG. The Cavaliers have been unhealthy for a majority of this NBA season. It’s unfortunate because they have guys stepping up and making plays, but are unable to progress without their star, Irving. C Anderson Varejao has now recorded nine straight games with double-doubles, and has at least 15 rebounds in each of those games. Alonzo Gee is also having a good season for Byron Scott’s team, averaging 12.1 PPG. He also had a career-high 22 points in Cleveland’s loss to Portland on Saturday. The Cavaliers could really use Waiters in this game, as his 15.2 PPG ties him with Varejao for second-most on the team.
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