It’s a clash of titans in the Eastern Conference tonight as the undefeated Milwaukee Bucks host the Brooklyn Nets who are still winless on the road. Catch the game from 7.30 pm ET live on ESPN.
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Brooklyn Nets vs Milwaukee Bucks Predictions & Betting Odds
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Brooklyn Nets vs Milwaukee Bucks Predictions & Betting Odds
Points Spread: Bucks -4
The Nets are off to a somewhat slower start than some people expected losing 2 of their first 3 games of the season. Defense has been a problem as in those two losses they allowed 130 and 134 points, showing habits from last year which derailed their season. In the 10-point loss at Memphis they had both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving drop 37 points and shot 54% as a team, but getting stops down the stretch was an issue and the Grizzlies took full advantage. Ben Simmons fouled out in his 2nd game of the season already, he is still finding his rhythm after missing a full year of basketball. It doesn’t get tougher opponent wise than tonight as they square off with the team that eliminated them from the playoffs a couple of seasons ago. Brooklyn has just 3 wins in the last 10 meetings with the Bucks and in the last 6 of those games they are just 1-5 ATS.
Not having Khris Middleton at their disposal hasn’t slowed down the Bucks who are one of the last remaining teams in the NBA that are yet to lose a game. They are coming off a 20-point win at home vs Houston, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo who had a monster night scoring 44 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in just 28 minutes played. Jrue Holiday also chipped in with 19 points and 10 assists as no starter played more than 32 minutes in the win. That should keep the Bucks fresh ahead of tonight’s game which is a good sign considering they are going up against a team that is currently 4th in field goal percentage after 3 games played. Milwaukee is already building a reputation as one of the elite defensive teams in the league, in the 2 games played they are allowing just 96.5 points per game which is the top mark in the NBA. They’ve beaten the Nets 5 times in the 6 most recent meetings, so optimism is high ahead of tonight’s clash.
With Ben Simmons still trying to gel with his new team, the Nets are struggling a bit out of the gate. It’s not often that we see them underdogs in a game, but tonight the Bucks are a 4-point favorite over them. It should be a close game, but I will take elite defense over elite offense any day of the week. Give me the Bucks to cover the spread at home.
Total Points: Over 233.5
One or the other will have to give here as these two teams have played a dramatically different style of basketball through the first couple of games of the season. Milwaukee is the leader in points allowed per game, while the Nets are one of the most efficient teams from the field. Brooklyn doesn’t play a lot of defense, as we saw in the Memphis game, so this game has the potential to be a high scoring affair.
The projected total has been set at a pretty high 233.5 points, that number was exceeded in each of the previous 2 meetings last season. The last time they met in Milwaukee the two teams combined for 249 points. Until the Nets figure things out and Ben Simmons regains some of his pre-injury form and becomes an all-defensive player like he used to be, I think we’ll see a lot of points scored in Nets games these first few weeks of the season. Because of that and the fact that we have the 4th and 6th most efficient offenses going against each other here, I am taking the over.
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