The Milwaukee Bucks are aiming to win their first game with new head coach Doc Rivers as they take on the Portland Trail Blazers tonight at Moda Center. Despite the 113-107 loss at Denver in his head coaching debut, we saw some improvements from the Bucks, especially on the defensive end which was the biggest reason why they let go of Adrian Griffin. Tonight’s game will be vastly different though as they take on a Blazers team that’s nowhere near as good as the Bucks, but Milwaukee cannot afford to relax here. They’ve not covered the spread in 7 straight road games, the oddsmakers have them as double-digit favorites here. They’ve gone 9-1 SU in the last 10 meetings with Portland, plus they’ve won 10 of their last 13 games vs Northwest Division opponents. There’s not a single player on the injury report for Milwaukee here, which is really good news considering we’re past the halfway point of the regular season already.
Portland has struggled with injuries all season long, they’ll once again be without Shaedon Sharpe here, he’s averaging almost 16 points per game for them this season. The Blazers caught a break in their last game as they faced a shorthanded 76ers team, coming out on top 130-104. In the win they shot over 50% from the field which is a rarity for them as they are arguably the worst offensive team in the entire NBA. It was only their 5th win in 11 games, right now only the San Antonio Spurs are ranked lower than them in the Western Conference standings. One stat that could give a bit of optimism here are their performances at home lately, the Blazers have covered the spread 5 times in their last 6 at Moda Center.
