Following a six-game homestand that yielded positive results, the Milwaukee Bucks hit the road for just the second time this season and first since opening night when they tangle with the new-look Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night. Milwaukee’s 110-108 win over Detroit on Halloween night extended their season-opening winning streak to six games leaving the Bucks as the only unbeaten team just a weeks into the 2022-23 NBA season. At this point I think the Wolves are just happy to play someone other than San Antonio, who they saw three times in a seven day span losing twice.
The contest between the Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves takes place at 10 p.m. ET on Friday, November 4, 2022, from Target Center in Minneapolis and will air live on ESPN. BookMaker.eu will have odds for every game on the Friday NBA schedule.
NBA Opening Lines at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
While the Bucks remained perfect in the win/loss column with Monday’s 110-108 decision over Detroit, they failed to earn a payout for the first time. Milwaukee was 5-0 ATS but struggled as a 13.5-point favorite against the scrappy Pistons. The Bucks have played only one road game so far beating Philadelphia outright 90-88 as a 4.5-point dog. They were a strong road team last season tying for the second-most road wins in the Eastern Conference with 24. However, one of their worst losses came in Minnesota, 138-119.
The Wolves reshaped their roster during the offseason adding three-time DPOY Rudy Gobert. The results so far have been mixed with the Wolves falling to San Antonio for the second time in a week, 107-98 on Sunday. They also split a pair of games with the Spurs both SU and ATS as the clubs played three times in a four-game span. The loss dropped the Wolves to 4-3 SU and 3-4 ATS.
Milwaukee Bucks
Winning their first six games and doing it without last season’s second leading scorer Khris Middleton and top reserve Pat Connaughton bodes well for the Bucks later in the season when those two return. In the meantime Giannis Antetokounmpo has picked up the slack. Opening the season with a mere 21 points against Philly, the Freak caught fire with back-to-back 40-point games while averaging 36.4 points in five straight wins. Without offensive threats Middleton and Connaughton, the Bucks haven’t been as efficient averaging just 112.8 points while shooting 45 percent from the floor.
The healthy return of Brooks Lopez has helped the defense be one of the strongest in the NBA so far. Lopez played just 13 games last season, but he’s been a huge contributor on both ends of the floor during the undefeated start. He scored 24 points against Detroit and averages 15.3, the highest in his five seasons in Milwaukee. His presence at the rim is a big part of the team’s top-ranked scoring and field goal percentage defense.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Reaching the postseason for the first time in four years and just the second time since 2004, the Wolves enter the season with lofty expectations. They changed their roster adding former defensive player of the year Gobert to a young core. The duo of Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns has solidified the interior defense but left the team vulnerable on the outside. That was exploited on Sunday by the Spurs, who hit 16 of 40 triples. Meanwhile their own woes from behind the arc continued hitting only 4 of 29 attempts.
As talented as they are the Wolves are still searching for an identity. It’s led to some inconsistent play like losing twice to a Spurs club that most expected to be battling for the worst record in the NBA. The Wolves did rise to the occasion last year sweeping the season series from the Bucks while earning payouts in both games. They won in Milwaukee for the first time in nine years and beat the Bucks by 19 at Target Center
NBA Odds Pick
Minnesota’s weakness on defense has been the Bucks’ strength for many years. One of the most efficient three-point shooting teams lost some of its firepower with Middleton and Connaughton on the shelf giving the Wolves a chance to display a fearsome interior presence. Giannis will have to earn his points down low and the Bucks don’t have the options. And it’s going to be an odd feeling since the visitors haven’t played in a hostile environment in a while.
NBA Odds Prediction: Minnesota Timberwolves / UNDER
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