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The Milwaukee Bucks remain in South Beach Miami to face the Heat early on Saturday morning! It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Bucks-Heat prediction and pick.
The Bucks and Heat are coming off a game where the Heat just barely outlasted the Bucks, who were without Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Heat won 108-102 as Gabe Vincent scored 28 points as he started in place of Kyle Lowry. They now play for the second game in a row and some of the stars will be returning to the court. The Bucks are now (27-15) and are the third seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat are (23-20) and sit in 8th place in the East.
Here are the Bucks-Heat NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NBA Odds: Bucks-Heat Odds
Milwaukee Bucks: +1.5 (-110)
Miami Heat: -1.5 (-110)
Over: 217 (-110)
Under: 217 (-110)
How To Watch Bucks vs. Heat
TV: ABC
Stream: Watch ESPN
Time: 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
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Why The Bucks Could Cover The Spread
The Bucks have a shot at covering this spread because Giannis has been taken off the injury report. Milwaukee managed to stay in the game and only lost by six points to a very good Heat squad. Miami will eventually pick up the pace and reach a higher seed as they are coming off the 1-seed in last year's playoffs. But for now, they are battling injuries and hoping they can remain competitive until they are fully healthy. The Bucks should take advantage of this.
Giannis is slipping down in the MVP race as he has missed some games, but he still will remain in the conversation as long as he is on the court. Not having Khris Middleton out there is hurting this team but they remain one of the toughest squads out there and play hard on the defensive end. The Bucks are 6th in points allowed this year allowing just 110.9 per game. The Cleveland Cavaliers are 1st allowing 106.9 per game.
Jrue Holiday was huge for Milwaukee in the last game against Miami finishing with 24 points, 11 assists, and six rebounds. Another night like that should give the Bucks a shot at covering this spread.
Why The Heat Could Cover The Spread
Miami will be getting a few players back for Saturday's game. According to Ira Winderman, Caleb Martin and Udonis Haslam are probable as Tyler Herro is questionable. None played in the last game. However, Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, Omer Yurtseven, and Nikola Jovic are already ruled out. Not having that three-point shooting out there for the Heat is hurting the team, but Gabe Vincent and Max Strus have stepped up and are usually lighting it up from deep. Vincent nailed 5/11 from deep in the win and was the biggest factor in the result.
Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler are clearly the two best players on the team. Whenever those two are on their game then the Heat are as tough as nails. They don't score a lot, but they will defend at a high level and kill you from beyond the arc. That's exactly what they did against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals back in May. They didn't win the series, but they limited an elite offense from getting in rhythm for almost a full seven games. They will need that tonight against another elite team in the East in Milwaukee.
Final Bucks-Heat Prediction & Pick
This is a tough one to call but with Giannis returning for the Bucks, I expect them to cover this spread on the road. Note: This post was written Friday afternoon.
Final Bucks-Heat Prediction & Pick: Bucks +1.5
