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The Milwaukee Bucks look to continue their impressive winning streak as they host the San Antonio Spurs for some Saturday night action. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Bucks-Spurs prediction and pick.
The Bucks are currently the hottest team in the league winners of five straight, and nine of their last ten games. The Bucks are in third place in the Eastern Conference a game and a half behind the Philadelphia 76ers for first. The Bucks are coming off an impressive come-from-behind 109-105 overtime win against the 76ers. They recently acquired veteran forward P.J. Tucker from the Houston Rockets, and he's expected to make his Bucks debut tonight.
The Spurs, on the other hand, played last night and defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-106. Keldon Johnson led the way with a massive 20/20 performance. The Spurs have been playing well, winners of three straight games since announcing that LaMarcus Aldridge is no longer part of the teams' plans.
This is the first meeting between these two teams. It's tough for any team to beat the Bucks, especially on a second of a back-to-back, but that's exactly what the Spurs will try and accomplish tonight.
NBA Odds: Spurs-Bucks Odds
Milwaukee Bucks -9.5 (-115)
San Antonio Spurs +9.5 (-105)
Over 230.5 (-110)
Under 230.5 (-110)
Why The Spurs Could Cover The Spread
The Spurs are playing better, cohesive basketball lately. Head coach Greg Popovich is back to his old antics, taking a less-talented team and squeezing every ounce of solid basketball out of them. As mentioned above Keldon Johnson is coming off a historic 20/20 performance against the Cavaliers. The young forward played 39 minutes, so it will be interesting to see how much energy he can bring out in a second of a back-to-back.
The Spurs go as far as DeMar DeRozan and Dejountae Murray will take them. The guard play is the strongest attribute to this team, but they will need to get a lot out of forward Rudy Gay and center Jakob Poeltl who will be asked to defend Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Spurs have also benefitted from the return of Rudy Gay and Derrick White from health and safety protocols. They will need to have their role players step up as well as bench players in order to take down the Bucks. They have been getting strong play off the bench from Patty Mills, who will need to go off for the Spurs to have a chance. They are a better road team than people anticipate with a 12-6 record.
These teams have split their last four head-to-head meetings, but San Antonio is 4-0 ATS in those games and won the most recent Spurs-Bucks game 126-104 last January.
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Why The Bucks Could Cover The Spread
The Bucks have been on a roll lately led by who else Giannis Antetokounmpo. They rank 5th in the East with 26 assists per game led by Antetokounmpo who is averaging 6.2. Giannis is also leading the team in points (29.1) and rebounds (11.8).
The Bucks have gone 15-5 in home games this year. They are averaging 121.1 points a game over the last ten games. The team is also shooting an impressive 48.3 percent from the field. The Greek Freak has put up a triple-double in three of his last four games and once again he will be the driving force behind Milwaukee's efforts at both ends of the floor.
The recent addition of Tucker adds to the team's depth off the bench joining Bobby Portis as solid rim protectors and capable scorers.
Even rested the Bucks represent a huge mismatch to the Spurs. The starting of five of Giannis to go with Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton is a nightmare scenario for any opposing team. They will look to take advantage of the Spurs' tired legs.
Final Spurs-Knicks Prediction & Pick
The Bucks are showing why they are a force to be reckoned with. Giannis is having another tremendous year and he's getting the help he needs with Holiday and Middleton providing secondary scoring.
Antetokounmpo averages just 18.5 points per game on 49.7% shooting over his 14 career games against the Spurs. He has scored 25 or more points in only five of those meetings. Expect him to improve on those numbers on his home court tonight.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: MIL 125, SA 109 (MIL -9.5)
