New Orleans Pelicans vs Chicago Bulls Prediction, 12/31/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: New Orleans Pelicans vs Chicago Bulls

Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Location: United Center in Chicago, IL

TV: CHSN

The New Orleans Pelicans (8-25) are en route to United Center on Wednesday where they will try to beat the Chicago Bulls (15-16).

The Pelicans faced the Suns and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 123-114 in their last contest. New Orleans walked away from the contest with a 43.7% FG percentage (38 of 87) and made 9 out of their 27 shots from 3-point land. From the charity stripe, the Pelicans made 29 of their 33 tries for a rate of 87.9%. When it comes to hauling in boards, they compiled a total of 43 with 14 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 16 assists in this matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 17 turnovers and getting 11 steals. When it comes to defending, New Orleans allowed 45.9% from the floor on 45 of 98 shooting. Phoenix recorded 26 assists and had 7 steals for the contest. Furthermore, Phoenix snagged 55 boards (22 offensive, 33 defensive) and added 7 rejections. Phoenix shot 68.4% at the charity stripe by burying 13 of their 19 attempts. They also made 20 out of their 44 shots from 3-point land. In relation to fouls, the Pelicans ended up with 22 and the Suns racked up 23 fouls.

Trey Murphy III is a player who was a major factor for the game. He accumulated 24 points on 6 of 12 shooting. He played for 37 mins and also snagged 6 boards. Murphy went 50.0% from the field and also earned 1 assist.

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New Orleans comes into this game with a win-loss record of 8-25 on the season. They turn it over 14.5 times per game and as a team are committing 20.6 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, New Orleans is grabbing 43.2 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 810 dimes on the season, which is 18th in the NBA in terms of passing. The Pelicans are hitting 34.0% on 3-pointers (349 of 1,027) and 78.7% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 115.2 points per outing (20th in the league) while hitting 46.3% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Pelicans are able to force 15.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 21.4 personal fouls. They are ranked 30th in basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 957 surrendered so far this season. The Pelicans are giving up a field goal percentage of 48.8% (1,471 of 3,015) and they relinquish 45.9 boards per contest as a basketball team. They concede 35.5% on 3-point attempts and they rank 28th in basketball in PPG allowed (122.6).

When they last stepped on the court, the Bulls walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 112-103 when they faced the Bucks. When it comes to attacking the glass, Chicago permitted Milwaukee to get 47 in total (11 on the offensive glass). They went 36.1% from downtown by shooting 13 out of 36 and ended up going 19 of 24 at the free throw line (79.2%). The Bulls permitted the Bucks to make 40 of their 86 tries from the floor which had them sitting at 46.5% in the game. Overall, the Bulls finished 39 for 93 from the floor which had them shooting 41.9%. In reference to three-point shots, Chicago buried 13 out of 38 attempts (34.2%). They were able to make 12 of them for a clip of 75.0%. The Bucks committed 16 fouls in this game which took the Bulls to the charity stripe for 16 tries. They coughed up the ball 15 times, while getting 5 steals for the matchup. The Bulls were able to collect 36 defensive rebounds and 16 offensive rebounds for a total of 52 for the contest.

Nikola Vucevic ended up being important for the Bulls for the matchup. He converted 7 of 14 for the game for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and had 7 rebounds. Vucevic racked up 16 points in his 26 mins on the court and accumulated 1 assist in this matchup.

Chicago has a win-loss mark of 15-16 for the year. The Bulls are responsible for committing 19.6 personal fouls per game and they go 78.1% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 29.5 times per game (4th in basketball) and they are giving up possession 15.0 times per game. Chicago has totaled 3,684 pts so far this season (118.8 per contest) and they snag 45.7 boards per game. As an offensive unit, the Bulls are shooting 47.5% from the floor, which is 12th in the NBA.

The Bulls on the defensive end are ranked 27th in the NBA in points allowed per game with 122.0. They are forcing 13.2 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 47.6% from the field (20th in the league). The Chicago defense concedes 36.4% on shots from beyond the perimeter (427 of 1,172) and their opponents are connecting on 78.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 27.7 assists and 45.5 boards per game, ranking them 24th and 22nd in the NBA.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take New Orleans

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