The Chicago Bulls are hoping they can finally see daylight this Saturday, as they look to end their slump when they get a visit from the new-look Brooklyn Nets. Will the Bulls give their fans something to smile about? Or, will Brooklyn steal a win in Chicago?

Catch this game live on Saturday, February 25, at 9 AM, Manila time

Away: Brooklyn Nets (34-24/16-13 Away)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG: Patty Mills
• SG: Spencer Dinwiddie
• SF: Mikal Bridges
• PF: Cameron Johnson
• C: Nicolas Claxton

The Nets no longer have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but just before the All-Star break, Brooklyn gave a strong impression of why it is still a team that can quickly develop into a legitimate threat in the NBA again. 

But even before they reach that form in the post-KD/Kyrie era, it doesn’t seem that a team has to be laden with stars to beat Chicago. With the current state of the Bulls, these Nets are good enough to add to the woes of Chicago, which has lost all of its last six games. Brooklyn, on the other hand, battered the Miami Heat in a 116-105 home win in its last game, thanks mainly to Mikal Bridges going off for 45 points. Bridges wasn’t with the Nets yet when the team last met Chicago, but Brooklyn won that game at home earlier this month, 116-105. Although Brides isn’t going to be scoring 45 points every game for the Nets, the opportunity is there for him and the Nets to come up big on offense against a struggling Chicago side. 

Brooklyn is 3-2 ATS in its last five road games.

Home: Chicago Bulls (26-33/16-13 Home)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG:  Ayo Dosunmu
• SG: Zach LaVine
• SF: DeMar DeRozan
• PF: Patrick Williams
• C: Nikola Vučević

Maybe a long break is all the Bulls need to cure their malaise. Seeking their first win in a long while, the Bulls hope that they will finally get it together on both ends of the floor. Their main problem lately has been their scoring, as they averaged just 97.8 points over their last six games. 

That’s the fewest in the league over the same stretch and leaves Chicago as the only team to score fewer than 100 points per game in that span. In their last game, the Bulls shot just 38.1 FG% in a 112-100 home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Defensively, the Bulls are faring better, as they’re sixth in the NBA in scoring defense (107.7 PPG) and fifth in defensive field goal percentage (45.4%) in their last six outings. And while they lost the last time they faced off with Brooklyn, the Bulls actually are 2-1 straight up this season versus the Nets. Zach LaVine has averaged 26.7 points on 52.6 FG% in those contests, so look for him to show up this Saturday.

The Bulls have covered the spread in each of their last four games after suffering a double-digit home loss.

PREDICTIONS:

Spread: The Bulls (-1.5) cover the spread.

Over/Under: The Total (224.5) hits the Over.