Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks
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Friday night NBA betting action features a potential playoff preview in the Eastern Conference, when the Chicago Bulls (23-24, 22-23-2 ATS) hit the road to take on the Atlanta Hawks (31-17, 30-18 ATS). The Bulls clawed their way back into the postseason picture with a five-game winning streak on the West Coast, but since then, have lost back-to-back games against the Clippers and 76ers. Atlanta had significantly better success against the Clip Joint on Wednesday night, as it took a 103-97 decision at Phillips Arena. However, the Hawks are 0-3 ATS and 1-2 SU since knocking off Boston last Friday night.

C Joakim Noah is going to miss his second game of the season on Friday with a foot injury. That’s bad news for a team that is already only scoring 95.4 points per game. The Florida product was chipping in 11.2 points and 12.0 rebounds per contest. G Derrick Rose is having a fantastic sophomore season in the NBA. The Memphis superstar is scoring a team-high 19.9 points per game, and he’s dishing out a solid 5.9 assists to boot. Chicago is holding opposing teams to just 43.8% shooting from the field on the season, the third best number in the NBA.

The Hawks are still right at the heels of the Magic for the lead in the Southeast Division, but they’ve got a comfortable hold on the #4 seed in the conference coming into Friday night. From #1 to #6 in the lineup, Atlanta is as good as anyone in the NBA. G Joe Johnson is the team’s leading point man at 22.0 per game, but G Jamal Crawford isn’t far behind at 17.6 per game even though he has predominantly come off the bench this year. F Al Horford is nearly averaging a double-double on the season (13.4 points, 9.5 rebounds per game), but his double-double against the Clippers on Wednesday was his first since January 18th.

The home team has already gone 2-0 SU and ATS in this series this season, and the Hawks will hope that Friday night is no exception. Atlanta had won four straight games ATS and five straight SU before the Bulls took a 101-98 decision on December 19th in the Windy City. The favorite is 17-8 ATS in the L/25 games between these Eastern Conference foes.

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