Posted on 12/11/2007 2:27:34 PM

NBA Betting - Seattle Supersonics (+8.5) vs. Chicago Bulls (-8.5)

By D.S. Williamson

The Sonics have been playing much better lately. They beat the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks and then lost by only three to the very good New Orleans Hornets. In particular that game versus the Hornets was impressive. The Hornets are led by one of the top three point-guards in the NBA, Chris Paul, and even getting close to them for the young Sonics could almost be considered a win.

As for the Chicago Bulls, they are playing better as well although considering the high expectations for this team going into the season; the Bulls would need a massive turnaround for any real NBA bettors to take them seriously. I actually called their win versus the Pistons last week, and, yes, I shall pat myself on the back for that one, but this game versus the Sonics tonight brings ups different issues:

The Chicago Bulls are 6 and 13 against the spread in their last 19 games overall.

The Seattle Supersonics are 7 and 3 against the spread in the last 10 meetings between these two teams.

Chicago is at home in this one, but that won’t matter. What will matter is whether or not Chicago has finally decided to play up to the expectations thrown at this team at the beginning of the season. That is likely as the Bulls only lost by 11 points to the Boston Celtics in their last game. Now, 11 points is a lot, but it’s not a lot when you’re playing one of the most efficient teams in recent NBA history.

The stats point to the Bulls playing a close one versus the Sonics, however, and that can’t make Bulls’ fans happy. The Sonics are taking baby-steps this year towards respectability and are in a tenuous position as any injury to 19 year old Kevin Durant would pretty much turn them into this years’ NBA doormat. Right now, they aren’t that bad, but Durant means an awful lot to this team.

In any case, the points are too high for me. I mean, I understand that, on average, the Sonics only score 85 points a game, but they appear to play well versus Eastern Conference teams. The Sonics only lost by 5 points to the New Jersey Nets earlier this season. They have all ready beaten the Indiana Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks. As I wrote earlier, they only by three points to the New Orleans Hornets.

This could be a case where you have a young team who is closer to the level of the Eastern Conference teams than the Western Conference teams that they are usually going to play. If that is the case, then the Sonics have a great chance to beat the spread tonight.

The BetUS NBA betting line is Seattle Supersonics + 8.5 against the spread on the road versus the Chicago Bulls.

I like the Sonics to beat the spread.

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