Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns head to the United Center to face the Chicago Bulls in NBA action on Friday night.
Durant made his highly-anticipated debut for Phoenix on Wednesday and will look to lead his new team to victory against a Bulls squad that has won three of four games since the All-Star break.
NBA betting lines opened with Phoenix installed as a 5.5-point road favorite before shortening to -3.5. Here are my best free Suns vs. Bulls NBA picks and predictions for March 3.
Suns vs Bulls best odds
Suns vs Bulls picks and predictions
The Suns have gone just 13-19 SU (16-15-1 ATS) on the road this season but this is going to be a much better team down the stretch with Kevin Durant.
Phoenix might rank a modest 17th in the league in offensive rating (113.4 points per 100 possessions) but that's due in large part to Devin Booker (26.8 ppg) and Chris Paul (13.5 ppg, 9.0 apg) missing a combined 48 games with injuries.
With Durant (29.5 ppg on 56.1 FG%) alongside a healthy Booker, Paul, and Deandre Ayton (18.7 ppg 59.2 FG%), the Suns should see their scoring efficiency skyrocket. The Bulls have been playing well on defense over the last couple of months but they simply don't have talented enough defenders to match up with those guys.
On the other end of the floor, Chicago is just 24th in the league in offensive rating (112.0) and has seen that number drop to just 106.7 in its last 10 games.
Despite trading its top wing defender, Mikal Bridges, for Durant, Phoenix has continued to lock down opponents and has a defensive rating of 108.5 in seven games since the trade. Go against the line movement and lay the points with the road faves.
My best bet: Suns -3.5 (-110 at bet365)
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Suns vs Bulls spread analysis
The Suns are fresh off a 105-91 road win against Charlotte on Wednesday covering the spread as 10.5-point road faves. Durant scored a very efficient 23 points in 27 minutes in his first game with Phoenix and had no issues co-existing with Booker, who dropped 37.
The Suns' bench still has plenty of question marks, especially with Terrence Ross listed as questionable for tonight and Landry Shamet sidelined. That said, this starting five is as good as any in the league, which has seen the Suns' championship odds rise from +1,600 before the trade deadline to its current price at +450.
The Bulls entered the All-Star break on a six-game losing streak but have since turned things around, winning three of their last four contests. They are coming off a 117-115 road win against Detroit, where they took their foot off the pedal in the fourth quarter and almost allowed the Pistons to pull off the comeback.
Chicago is in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with a 29-34 record and needs to show improvement down the stretch if it wants to make the playoffs.
The Bulls have a trio of talented scorers in DeMar DeRozan (25.0 ppg), Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic (17.7 ppg, 11.3 rpg). However, they don't have much scoring depth behind them and DeRozan has cooled off over the last month. He was putting up 26.4 ppg through his first 46 contests of the season but that number has dropped to 19.1 ppg over the last 11 games.
Suns vs Bulls Over/Under analysis
In theory, the Bulls should be very efficient on offense, since they rank fifth in the league with a 48.8 FG%. However, they rank dead-last in the league in 3-pointers per game (10.3) and are 28th in offensive rebounding rate, which drags their scoring production down.
The Suns allow the second-fewest 3-pointers per game (11.4) in the NBA and have also been solid on the boards.
They rank seventh in the league in defensive rating (111.6) and that combined with their slow pace has resulted in Phoenix allowing 110.9 ppg — the fourth-lowest number in the league.
The Bulls are fifth in the league in defensive rating (111.3) and have made massive strides in the new year boasting a defensive rating of 109.2 since January 1.
Suns vs Bulls betting trend to know
The Suns are 7-2 ATS in their last nine games vs. a team with a losing record while the Bulls are 1-5 ATS in their previous six contests against teams with a winning record. Find more NBA betting trends for Suns vs. Bulls.
Suns vs Bulls game info
| Location: | United Center, Chicago, IL |
| Date: | Friday, March 3, 2023 |
| Tip-off: | 8:00 p.m. ET |
| TV: | Bally Arizona, NBC Sports Chicago |
