The defending NBA champion New York Knicks aim for a second consecutive victory when they face the Chicago Bulls in an Eastern Conference matchup Wednesday night at United Center. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET.
New York (1-3) enters after a 111-97 win over Detroit on Tuesday, while Chicago (1-3) lost 134-99 at Boston on Monday. The Knicks are 7.5-point favorites with an over/under of 232.5 points; the money line lists New York at -270 and Chicago at +225.
A projection model simulating the game 10,000 times favors the over on the total, which has hit in six of the last nine meetings and in three of Chicago's four games this season. The model projects 238 combined points, with the over hitting 57% of simulations. One side of the spread hits nearly 70% of the time, according to the model.
The Knicks are led by guard Jalen Brunson, averaging 22.8 points, 4.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds, and center Karl-Anthony Towns, averaging 22.5 points, 14 rebounds and 2.8 assists through four games. The Bulls have been paced by forward Caleb Wilson, averaging 21 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.8 steals in 34 minutes.
Chicago's defense ranks 30th in the league, allowing 129.5 points per game. The model has returned nearly $19,000 in profit for $100 players on top-rated NBA picks since 2018, including a 26-10 run on spread picks dating to last season.
