Free Picks: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Chicago Bulls

The defending-champion Lakers are coming off of their first loss in their last five contests, a 118-109 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, so you can expect LeBron James and company to come out hard on Friday night. The Chicago Bulls, meanwhile, are also coming off of a loss, having dropped their last contest 128-124 to the Sacramento Kings. The big-time Lakers and the perpetually underachieving Bulls will faceoff to see which squad can get out of the hole on Friday night.

The Lakers didn’t exactly get the result they were looking for on Thursday night when they fell to the Spurs by nearly 10 points, so you can expect them to bounce back nicely in the second half of a back-to-back. They’ll be taking on the lowly Bulls so that should give heart to anyone who was worrying about a Lakers bet on this lovely NBA Friday night.

The fact that this matchup is taking place on a Friday actually bodes well for Lakers bettors: the Bulls have gone 0-8 against the spread over the past little while in games that take place on Friday. Not to mention the fact that the Lakers have gone 4-1-1 against the spread over the past few years when they’re taking on Chicago.

Now, the Bulls have beaten the spread in six of their past seven games, but there is a caveat for this particular game because LeBron James just loves to play against Chicago. It may have something to do with the fact that Michael Jordan starred in the Windy City for so many years, but who really knows. Anyway, it just so happens that the King has scored more points per game (28.6) against the Bulls then all but three teams, so you can expect that regal dominance to continue on Friday night.

The Bulls have been surprisingly mediocre to start this young season, but the 19.7 points they’re giving up to opponents off of turnovers will do them in against the savvy Lakers led by the veteran James. We’re taking the Lakers to win and win big as -9.0 point favorites at -105 odds on 22Bet.

• Chicago has gone 0-8 ATS in their last eight Friday games
• Chicago is 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games against Los Angeles
• The UNDER has hit in the last 7 straight games for Los Angeles
• The UNDER has hit in 4 of the last 6 meetings between these teams