Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons

Bulls/Blazers OVER 179.5

For a number of different reasons I believe we're getting excellent value on the "over" in this situation:

The Bulls struggled defensively in the first two games of a six-game trip, losing 112-93 to Denver on Saturday night after being defeated 108-93 by the Los Angeles Lakers two days earlier. Chicago gave up 100 points in one of its previous 10 games and I expect it to stumble again today.

Keep in mind that the total has gone "over" the posted number in four of Chicago's last five vs. Portland overall.

On the other side of the court: Portland (10-5) had lost two of three and was held under 100 points in five straight contests before beating Minnesota 106-78 on Saturday night; look for them to build off that victory.

The Trail Blazers made 41.7 % (10 for 24) of their 3-point attempts after being held under 30 % in three of their previous five games.

Portland has seen the total go "over" the posted number after playing to 3 or more consecutive "unders", and I look for this trend to continue tonight.

Bottom line: This line is simply too low; when taking into account all of the above factors I have to strongly recommend a play on the OVER!

*8* OVER.