Timberwolves vs Bulls Odds, Picks, and Predictions Tonight: Chicago Seems Tired Tonight

If there is a flaw to the play-in tournament to start the postseason, it’s that teams like the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks likely will be in it. It will be the third year in a row for the Hawks and the second for the Bulls, two franchises that cannot find traction in either direction.

Chicago might win that first play-in game, because it will be against a team below .500. That has been the defining mark for the Bulls of late, more than holding their own against lackluster teams while getting drubbed by teams better than .500, and the NBA odds reflect this.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are much better than .500, tied with the Thunder atop the Western Conference. That may seem an overly simple way of looking at tonight’s tilt in Chicago, but there is no reason to doubt Minnesota in our free NBA picks and predictions as we preview the Timberwolves vs. the Bulls on Tuesday, February 6, with tip set for 8:00 ET.

Timberwolves vs Bulls odds

Timberwolves vs Bulls predictions

The Chicago Bulls’ failures against quality opposition since about Christmas are too stark to ignore. Chicago has gone 10-2 straight-up since Dec. 23 against teams currently worse than .500 — this includes a win against the 76ers without Joel Embiid on Dec. 30, and since Philadelphia is 4-11 without its MVP candidate this season, that does not feel like a reach of an exemption. And in those games, the Bulls have gone 9-3 against the spread.

Take a look at the NBA standings, though, and you already know there is a catch to those promising trends. Chicago is, after all, 23-27 and the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference right now. Why? Because it cannot compete with decent teams.

The Bulls have gone 1-7 ATS against teams better than .500 since Dec. 23 — excluding that win against the 76ers — and 0-8 SU.

That is to be expected with Andre Drummond playing more than 19 minutes per game in 2024 and your two leading scorers — DeMar DeRozan and Coby White — are shooting 30.2% and 34.6% from deep, respectively, in the 20 games since Dec. 23, while only Drummond and Nikola Vucevic can be counted on to grab at least six rebounds per game.

The larger conversations about Chicago’s roster hinge on Zach LaVine’s and Lonzo Ball’s long-term health but, as it is available right now, the Bulls cannot compete with contenders.

And the Minnesota Timberwolves are, despite a few weeks of frustrations, decisive contenders. They emphasized that on Sunday against the Rockets — an effective Bulls comp from the Western Conference — a team that had a decent start to the year but has since been increasingly exposed as not ready for quality NBA competition.

Minnesota found renewed defense when it shut Houston down, holding it to 90 points on 35% shooting. That may be an extreme expectation tonight, but the Timberwolves have the bigs to keep Vucevic and Drummond off the boards, which will leave DeRozan’s mid-range attempts as Chicago’s best and only offense. That will not be enough to reverse the Bulls’ struggles against teams better than .500.

My best bet: Timberwolves -5 (-108 at BetRivers)

Timberwolves vs Bulls same-game parlay

Timberwolves -5

DeMar DeRozan Over 23.5 points

Bulls team total Under 105.5

+550 at DraftKings

The Timberwolves' defensive rating remains the best in the league. The gap between Minnesota and the No. 2-ranked Cavaliers is greater than the one between Cleveland and No. 8. That is largely because Rudy Gobert is well on his way to his fourth Defensive Player of the Year honor.

Teams rarely attempt shots at the hoop against the Timberwolves, the third-fewest in the league, and they make a startingly low percentage of them, 60.7%, ranking fourth-lowest in the league.

They don’t take many 3-pointers, either, thanks to Minnesota’s perimeter length in Jaden McDaniels, Anthony Edwards, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, length emphasized by the aggressiveness allowed with Gobert supporting on the back line. Only 37.3% of opposing field-goal attempts come from beyond the arc, No. 6 in the NBA.

What’s that leave? The dreaded mid-range.

The Timberwolves’ defensive design will encourage DeRozan to live his best life. The Chicago issue will then be that may be all the offense available, creating a dichotomy of DeRozan scoring while no other Bulls do.

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Timberwolves vs Bulls spread and Over/Under analysis

Minnesota opened as a 5-point favorite on Monday evening, a number that dipped to -4.5 overnight before rebounding to -5.5 late on Tuesday morning. If granting the Timberwolves a two-bucket edge on the road worries anyone, then remember Chicago has gone 1-7 ATS against quality opponents in the last six weeks, and it lost those games by 7.1 points more than even bookmakers expected.

This total opened at 214 and quickly climbed to 217 on Monday night. Bouncing around since then, it has settled at 217. Minnesota’s fourth-quarter offense has been too inconsistent to anticipate if a blowout could send this game to an Under, the worrying thought of the Timberwolves failing late and thus sparking the Bulls to a delayed rally, one probably falling short but still one that could threaten this total.

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Timberwolves vs Bulls betting trend to know

Six of Minnesota’s last seven games have gone Under their totals. Find more NBA betting trends for Timberwolves vs. Bulls.

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