The fight for the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference playoff race are up for grabs with Thursday’s matchup between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks going a long way toward deciding where the teams end up. If the Celtics are going to finish higher in the standings they’ll need to win on the road. They finished up the home portion of their regular season schedule on Sunday with a pounding of Washington for their 26th victory in 32 games. They end the season on the road where they are 21-17 SU and 17-19-2 ATS.
The NBA game between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks will air live on TNT with tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 7, 2022 from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. BookMaker.eu will have betting options for every game on the NBA schedule.
NBA Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
The Celtics have been on a roll for some time getting into the thick of the playoff race. They were a game under .500 in late January before rattling off a nine-game winning streak. Since then they’ve gone 26-6 with 20 payouts. And when it looked like that run might come to an end with losses last week to Toronto and Miami, the Cs responded by taking down Indiana and blowing out the Wizards by 42 points. If you stuck with them you’d be in the black since Boston has payouts in 11 of its last 16 games and is 41-36-1 ATS overall. And they’ve made money for OVER bettors by playing above the closing total in eight of their past nine games. The Cs had won three straight in the series before falling 117-113 on Christmas day. They did cover the 7.5-point spread for their sixth straight cover.
The Bucks found out last season that it doesn’t matter where you end up in the standings as long as you’re healthy and playing good ball. They finished third in the conference last season and went on to win their first NBA title in 50 years. In each of the two previous seasons they had the best record in the NBA and didn’t reach the Finals. If playing good ball means winning games the Bucks have some things to work on. They had gone over a month without losing consecutive games until falling at home to the Clippers and Dallas. They rested every starter and key backup in the 153-119 setback to the Clips. They’ve been good within the East, however, going 31-11 against conference foes with eight straight wins and a 7-1 ATS mark.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics have to finish the regular season on the road with the first two of their remaining three games coming in consecutive days. They take on the Bulls Wednesday before heading to Milwaukee, and they’ve struggled in the second of back-to-backs dropping three of their last four such games. They’ve been even worse at the betting window with only two payouts in their last seven tries.
The loss of Robert Williams to a knee injury is a big blow especially to the defensive structure of the team. Williams took up a lot of room in the paint averaging nearly 10 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. they split the first four games since his injury giving up an average of 111.5 points, over seven points per game higher than their season average. They cashed the OVER in three of those games.
Milwaukee Bucks
When it comes to playing the top teams in the East, the Bucks step up their game, especially Giannis Antetokounmpo. While he may not win the MVP this season he certainly played like a deserving candidate last week in wins over Philadelphia and Brooklyn. He scored 40 points with 14 rebounds to beat Philly and dropped 44 with another 14 boards against the Nets while shooting a combined 66.7 percent. In fact he’s shot at least 50 percent in each of his last 12 games.
With their roster intact Sunday against Dallas the Bucks couldn’t overcome Luka Doncic falling 118-112 for their second SU and ATS loss in a row. That came a few days after all the regular starters sat in a 153-119 loss to the Clippers. We know the Bucks can score, they average 115 points to rank third in the NBA, but they need to defend better. Over the last five games they surrendered an average of 126.6 points while cashing the OVER in two straight and three of their last four games.
Bucks at Nets NBA Odds Pick
Taking on a contender in their conference seems to bring out the best in Milwaukee. And while the Celtics are on a roll we could see some lineup adjustments in the second game of a back-to-back. Just last week several starters sat against Toronto and I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar despite this being a pivotal game.
NBA Odds Prediction: Milwaukee Bucks / UNDER
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