In a rematch from Saturday, the Cavs will welcome Milwaukee into Cleveland, looking for a payback win against the Bucks. On Saturday, Milwaukee outlasted the Cavaliers 108-105 in double overtime.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
Milwaukee won outright on Saturday despite Cleveland going off the betting board as 5-point road chalk. They’ll be even bigger underdogs on the road this Thursday.
On Saturday, the Bucks had a sizeable 70-61 lead heading into the fourth quarter before LeBron James led his team to a nice comeback to tie it up. Unfortunately for Cleveland fans, they couldn’t sustain their fourth quarter run into overtime.
With so much depth in Milwaukee, they had the fresher legs in the end.
WHEN THE MILWAUKEE BUCKS ARE ON OFFENSE
The Bucks are below average offensively scoring just 97.7 PPG to rank No. 23 in the NBA. While the total point outputs are low, they’re relatively accurate when taking shots, they just struggle to create shots for themselves.
From the floor, Milwaukee is shooing 44.3%. They also rank No. 6 in the NBA from three-point range, shooting 36.2% and first from the free throw line at 81.8%.
After 25 strong games in his rookie year, second year small forward Jabari Parker has yet to get rolling this season. He’s averaging just 7.2 PPG through five games played. While he’s struggling, the team is still led from the forward position with Giannis Antetokounmpo recording 17.8 PPG and 7.2 RPG. He’s tied for most PPG with center Greg Monroe who also tops him in rebounds with 10.2 RPG.
In addition to those two, fellow forward Khris Middleton is third on the team in scoring with 13.9 PPG while Michael Carter-Williams is the team’s top scoring guard with 13.6 PPG. He also leads the team in assists with 6.2 per game.
In Milwaukee’s win over Cleveland, it played with its projected starting lineup for the first time all season and it went extremely well.
The Bucks had a true team performance against Cleveland, with seven different players scoring in double-digits including double-doubles from Antetokounmpo and Monroe.
Watch Cleveland defensively early in this and see if it takes a different approach here in round two. Also, watch to ensure the Bucks are shooting well early. They need to take advantage of the opportunities they create.
WHEN THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS ARE ON OFFENSE
On Saturday, LeBron James scored 37 points and added 12 rebounds, but that wasn’t enough as fellow guard Kevin Love added 24-points and 14 rebounds. Unlike Milwaukee, only four Cavs players reached double-digits in points scored.
The Bucks are a basketball team that must lean on everyone while Cleveland has, arguably, the best player in the sport.
James leads the way with 27 PPG and has 6.8 RPG and 6.4 APG. He and the team are at their best when others are getting involved. His 6.4 APG is rather high for a forward.
His biggest two supporting pieces—with Kyrie Irving injured—are Love and Mo Williams. Love has averaged 17.2 PPG while Williams checks in at 15.6.
BETTING TRENDS AND MATCHUPS
Cleveland’s loss on Saturday not only snapped an eight game winnings streak, it also extended a seven game losing streak ATS. The Cavs have been able to get by with wins this year, but not quite at the magnitude expected.
Look for something similar on Thursday. Cleveland’s got the top-end talent, but the Bucks’ deep roster helped them outlast the Cavs in Milwaukee on Saturday.
Keep close tabs on how well LeBron is able to get others involved, particularly those not named Love or Williams. If the Cavs are able to diversify the offense a bit, that could open things up for James and company to utilize their better talent and finally snag an elusive pointspread cover.
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