Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks Game 3 Betting Preview

The Milwaukee Bucks are coming back home in their Eastern Conference Second Round playoff series, having taken home-court advantage thanks to a 101-89 win in the opener against the Boston Celtics. While that victory does leave cause for optimism, the Bucks were also throttled 109-86 in Game 2, so there is still some work to do.

This series has had an extended break, having not played since Tuesday night. That time off looks like it will allow Marcus Smart (quad) to get back in the lineup for the Celtics, but it still isn’t enough for Khris Middleton (knee) or George Hill (abdomen) to return for the Bucks. Milwaukee is a -1.5 favorite here.

Dynamic Duo Clicking

While Milwaukee has the best overall player on the court in this series, it’s hard to argue the effectiveness of the Boston combo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Unlike Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has to do a lot of the facilitating by himself (with apologies to Jrue Holiday), Tatum and Brown can feed off each other, and it worked as they combined for 59 points and 14 assists in Tuesday’s win.

Getting Smart back is a huge boost to this Celtics defense after he missed Game 2 with the injured quad. Boston still held the Bucks to 86 points in that game and an especially bad 3-18 (17%) from the perimeter, where Smart is most effective.

Home Court Should Be Huge Edge

The crowd gets pretty raucous in the postseason at Fiserv Forum, and who knows what member of the Green Bay Packers will show up to chug beer courtside on Saturday afternoon. The Bucks are 29-15 at home this season, but Boston has covered the number in five straight as a road underdog.

At times this postseason, it’s looked like Milwaukee has missed Middleton, but they’ve also been fine without him in other situations. We know Antetokounmpo is going to get his (24/13/12 in Game 1, 28/9/7 in Game 2). This game really just comes down to who else steps up for the Bucks.

Grayson Allen was a key contributor in getting past Chicago in round one and Jrue Holiday had 25 in the series opener against Boston; it’s just more about getting that kind of production more consistently for Mike Budenholzer’s team.

Celtics/Bucks Betting Prediction

So far, through two games, this looks like a very evenly matched series that could be peering down on needing seven games to decide it.

We will see how Boston travels on Saturday because Fiserv Forum can be a pretty tough place to play in the postseason. The Bucks are 7-2 ATS in their last nine playoff games as a favorite.

It wouldn’t shock anybody if Boston won this game outright the way Tatum, Brown, and that defense have performed these playoffs.

Ultimately any time you can get Milwaukee at just -1.5 at home in a playoff game, you have to pounce on it.

Betting Pick: Bucks -1.5