Milwaukee Bucks at Portland Trail Blazers Betting Preview
The Bucks (32-21) look to edge closer to first place in the Eastern Conference when they travel to Portland to face the Trail Blazers (21-32), who have been struggling as of late. The Bucks have everything in their favor coming into this game, while the Trail Blazers are looking to play spoiler to the Bucks before the All-Star break. So what are some things to look at between the two teams before their matchup this Saturday?
A Look at the Bucks
The Bucks are in striking distance of first place in the Eastern Conference. They will need to keep winning if they want to take over first place, and this game is a perfect opportunity for the Bucks to do just that. They are 6-4 in their last ten games and are only 1.5 games out of first place.
The Bucks will be going into this game without Brook Lopez (back) and George Hill (neck). Outside those two injuries, the Bucks should be in smooth waters as they have no other injuries or players expected to miss. Look for the Bucks to lean on their highest scorer Giannis Antetokounmpo in this game to improve in the NBA standings.
A Look at the Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers have been doing bad this season. They are 3-7 in their last ten games and have lost four in a row.
They blew a four-point halftime lead against the Oklahoma City Thunder last night at home, another team that has been struggling. The Trail Blazers had plenty of chances to put that game away last night but just fell apart.
CJ McCollum and Anfernee Simons were bright spots in that game, where they both scored 19 points and had four assists. If the Trail Blazers want to play spoiler, they will need better numbers from those two players and help from their center Jusuf Nurkic. While Nurkic isn’t the best scorer on the team, he has shown some flash at the three-point line before.
The Stats and Betting Pick
While the Trail Blazers haven’t been good this year, most of their wins have been at home. They are 14-14 at home, showing that they are better at home this season.
When it comes to betting, they are 21-30-1 against the spread and 13-14-1 against the spread at home. So betting on them at home against the spread is a virtual toss-up.
When we look at the Bucks on the road, they have a record of 13-12, and when it comes to the spread, they are 23-30 overall. Their value against the spread on the road is much like the Trail Blazers, a virtual toss-up. The Bucks are 12-13 on the road against the spread for the season.
With the Bucks coming in at 8.5 point favorites and with the Trail Blazers giving away what should have been an easy game last night, it’s hard to bet against the Bucks. I’d take the Bucks and giveaway the 8.5 points.
