NBA Central: Bulls vs. Pacers

With the Miami Heat on a 13-game win streak, it appears that the top spot in the East is all but locked up, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still division titles and playoff positioning to fight for. Central Division rivals Chicago and Indiana will be looking to improve each of its stocks today and will hope to take one step closer to that Central crown.

The Bulls enter today’s road battle with the Pacers trailing by three games in the division, but they’ll have a great opportunity to pull to within two games with a win. Besides the fact that Chicago will be encountering one of the league’s best defenses, their biggest challenge will likely be playing at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, where the Pacers are 24-6 on the season.

The Pacers have stepped up their game on the defensive end of the floor even more lately, holding opponents to 85.6 points per game, 38 percent field goal shooting and 25.8 percent three-point shooting over the last seven games. That’s definitely bad news for the Bulls, who have only won five of their last 10 contests.

The Bulls have struggled on the offensive end of the floor lately, but seemed to rediscover their scoring groove on Saturday against the Brooklyn Nets, as they shot 52.1 percent from the field, their best shooting output in nearly two months.

Chicago may be starting to hit its stride, but Indiana is just too good at home and is just too good defensively to slip up tonight against the Bulls. The Pacers have also won the last two meetings between the clubs, so there’s no reason the Pacers can’t do it again. Take the Indiana to cover -7 points at home tonight.