Bulls Look to Get Back on Track Against Spurs on Thursday Night

Thursday's NBA on TNT doubleheader features two games in which the Western Conference team is favored against the Eastern Conference team. One of them is not surprising, as the Los Angeles Clippers opened as 12-point favorites hosting the Brooklyn Nets at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook in the second game. The Clippers (28-14) are second in the Pacific Division while the Nets (18-24) will be playing back-to-back nights and currently reside in second in the Atlantic despite a losing record.

Los Angeles has won three of its last four games along with eight of 11. However, the Clippers have failed to cover the spread in their past three games following a 102-93 victory against the Boston Celtics on Monday as 12-point home favorites. LA forward Blake Griffin scored a game-high 22 points with center DeAndre Jordan adding 19 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks.

Brooklyn had dropped eight of nine straight-up - going 2-7 against the spread - heading into Wednesday's road game against the Sacramento Kings. The Nets beat the Kings 103-100 as 5.5-point underdogs in the first game of a two-game road trip that wraps up at Staples Center on Thursday, improving to 10-10 away from home this season. They have also won six of the last nine meetings with the Clippers, going 8-1 ATS.

In the first game, the Chicago Bulls (27-16) and San Antonio Spurs (27-16) have identical records yet the latter is playing much better than the former right now. The Bulls opened as 3.5-point home underdogs and were already up to +5 at the SuperBook on Wednesday night (click here to check latest NBA odds).

Chicago has dropped six of eight games both SU and ATS since topping the Houston Rockets 114-105 as 3-point home favorites back on Jan. 5. In the last five losses, Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has stepped up in averaging 22 points, but they have struggled defensively in those setbacks by allowing nearly 109 points per game. The team canceled practice on Tuesday and held a meeting instead to address some of the problems experienced during the skid, including ankle injuries for starters Mike Dunleavy and Joakim Noah, after Rose called out his teammates. Dunleavy (9.6 points per game) is questionable to return to action against the Spurs after missing 10 straight games (click here for the updated NBA injury report).

San Antonio is just 12-10 on the road (the same as Chicago's home record) but riding a four-game winning streak overall SU and ATS after defeating the Denver Nuggets 109-99 as 8.5-point favorites on Tuesday. Two of the four wins have come on the road, and the Spurs are 3-1 SU and ATS in the past four meetings with the Bulls as well.

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