Who’s playing
Chicago Bulls @ Los Angeles Clippers
Current records: Chicago 31-32, Los Angeles 40-21
How to watch
- When: Saturday March 9, 2024 at 4 p.m. ET
- Or: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, California
- TV: Bally Sports SoCal
- Follow: CBS Sports app
- Online broadcast: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket cost: $19.40
What there is to know
After three games on the road, the Clippers return home. They will face the Chicago Bulls on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. Both teams enter the confrontation strengthened by their victories in their previous matches.
Last Wednesday, Los Angeles didn’t have much breathing room in their game against the Rockets, but they still came away with a 122-116 victory. The victory was even more spectacular because the Clippers were down 20 points with 5:18 left in the second quarter.
Kawhi Leonard was the offensive star of the game, scoring 28 points along with seven assists and six rebounds. He didn’t help the Clippers’ cause much against the Bucks on Monday, but the same can’t be said for this game.
Meanwhile, the Bulls had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They certainly made it a tough game, but they managed to escape with a 125-122 win over Golden State. The Bulls trailed 31-18 with 1:29 left in the first quarter, but they still came back for a handy three-point victory.
The Bulls can attribute much of their success to Nikola Vucevic, who had a double-double with 33 points and 11 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan, who scored 33 points and eight rebounds. In fact, this is the most points Vucevic has scored all season.
Los Angeles has been on a roll lately: they’ve won three of their last four games, improving their record to 40-21 this season. As for Chicago, they pushed their record to 31-32 with this victory, which was their fourth in a row on the road.
In this competition, the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: the Clippers haven’t given up the ball easily this season, averaging just 12.2 turnovers per game. However, it’s not like the Bulls (currently ranked third in turnovers per game) are struggling in this department as they’ve only averaged 11.6 turnovers per game. Given these competing forces, it will be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
The Clippers beat the Bulls 124-112 in their previous matchup in March 2023. Will the Clippers repeat their success, or do the Bulls have a better game plan this time around? We’ll know soon enough.
Odds
Los Angeles is a solid 7-point favorite against Chicago, according to the latest NBA Odds.
Bettors moved slightly against the Clippers, as the game opened with the Clippers as 9-point favorites.
The over/under is 220.5 points.
See NBA Pick for every game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get Picks Now.
History of the series
Los Angeles has won 7 of its last 10 games against Chicago.
- March 27, 2023 – Los Angeles 124 vs. Chicago 112
- January 31, 2023 – Los Angeles 108 vs. Chicago 103
- March 31, 2022 – Chicago 135 vs. Los Angeles 130
- November 14, 2021 – Chicago 100 vs. Los Angeles 90
- February 12, 2021 – Los Angeles 125 vs. Chicago 106
- January 10, 2021 – Los Angeles 130 vs. Chicago 127
- December 14, 2019 – Chicago 109 vs. Los Angeles 106
- March 15, 2019 – Los Angeles 128 vs. Chicago 121
- January 25, 2019 – Los Angeles 106 vs. Chicago 101
- March 13, 2018 – Los Angeles 112 vs. Chicago 106
