PREDICTION SATURDAY TODAY 01-04-2017

NBA

A matchup with playoff significance will take place on Saturday evening when the Atlanta Hawks invade the United Center to battle the Chicago Bulls. The Hawks have won two straight games and are tied with Milwaukee for fifth place in the East. On Wednesday, Atlanta jumped out to a seven point lead at the end of one quarter and held on for a 99-92 road victory at Philadelphia. The Hawks connected on 9-for-18 from long distance on the night.

Dwight Howard dominated the court with 22 points and 20 rebounds for the Hawks. Kent Bazemore added 19 points in 20 minutes off the Atlanta bench.

While the Hawks look like they will clinch a playoff spot, the Chicago Bulls still have work left to do. With seven games left on their schedule, the Bulls trail Indiana by one full game for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. On Thursday, Chicago outscored Cleveland by 16 points during the third quarter of a 99-93 home victory. The Bulls outrebounded the defending NBA Champions by a 63-49 margin on the evening.

Nikola Mirotic nailed six three-pointers and tied a season high with 28 points. All-Star G Jimmy Butler tallied 25 points on 10-for-17 from the floor for the Bulls.
Recent Betting Trends:
Hawks are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games.
Bulls are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
Under is 19-6-1 in Hawks last 26 overall.
Under is 6-2 in Bulls last 8 home games.
Under is 10-2 in the last 12 meetings in Chicago.
Free Betting Pick: UNDER 204
Atlanta F Paul Millsap remains out indefinitely after having a non-surgical procedure on his left knee. The Hawks rank 4th in defensive efficiency and neither team is filling it up on offense. The under looks like the play on Saturday. Final Score Prediction, Chicago Bulls win but fall short ATS 99-97.

NHL

With the Stars they are a team that has been able to go out and play some great hockey, but they have ended up on the losing side of the puck way to often on the year and that is not going to help them in winning their way to the playoffs as they have been eliminated for quite some time.

Leading the Stars on the year has been the job of Tyler Seguin who has been able to put in a total of 70 points on the year. 25 of those have come from goals and the other 45 have come from assist.

Carolina is at the point in time that they have to keep winning to keep their playoff chances alive. The problem is the Hurricanes are at that point when they are coming into the year to play against teams that are just looking for pride play and that makes those teams dangerous. 

The Hurricanes are relying on Jeff Skinner still as he was the player who ignited the fans the other day and kept them going in the overtime victory over the Blue Jackets.
Recent Betting Trends:
Stars are 4-1 in their last 5 vs. Metropolitan.
Hurricanes are 5-1 in their last 6 overall.
Under is 6-1 in Stars last 7 overall.
Over is 8-2-2 in Hurricanes last 12 in the fourth game of a 4-in-6 days situation.
Free Betting Pick: Carolina Hurricanes -160
The Hurricanes are a hard charging team as of late and that is because they are at the point of having to win to stay alive. Since that is the case, the Hurricanes will be charging hard in this game to pick up the win and will take the game 3-1.