The Milwaukee Bucks are out to make it out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2000-01 season. Milwaukee has largely been a middle-of-the-pack team since that time, making the playoffs eight times, but the Bucks never won more than 46 games in a season during that stretch and were always one and done in the playoffs. They look ready to make the leap this year though, and they are currently leading the Central Division by two games. In the second part of an NBA Friday night doubleheader, the Bucks will take on a divisional foe when they face the Chicago Bulls.
This regular season tilt between Western Conference foes will take place on Friday, November 16, 2018. Tip-off will be at 9:30 p.m. ET from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and WGN.
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Odds Analysis
There has been no line released for this game as NBA betting odds generally come out the night before the game. This article will be published on Thursday, so there are no basketball betting lines available at this time. The NBA betting line could be in the double digits though given the respective position of these two teams in the standings.
This will be the first meeting between these teams this season. Chicago has yet to beat anyone good. The Bulls are 4-11 on the year, and those wins came over Charlotte, Atlanta, New York, and Cleveland. Only the victory over the Hawks was by more than one possession too, so it’s plausible that they could have been 1-14 entering this one.
Milwaukee got off to a very good start this season. The Bucks won seven in a row to prove that they could compete, but they have alternated wins and losses since that point. However, the only ‘bad’ loss of the bunch was on Wednesday night against Memphis, and the Bucks more than made up for that with road wins against Golden State and Denver, and home wins over Philadelphia and Toronto.
Key Injuries
There is one player to note on Chicago’s injury report ahead of this one. Lauri Markkanen continues to be sidelined with an elbow injury, and he is not expected to return until December. He is back with the team and practicing, but he still has some time to go before he gets back in action.
Meanwhile, the Bucks had no one on their injury report ahead of Wednesday night’s game with Memphis, but that changed once first-round pick Donte DiVincenzo left last night’s game with a knee injury. His status is now up in the air for this game.
Key Stat
We knew the Bulls would be bad on defense this year. Chicago is clearly in a rebuild, and the Bulls did not pay any attention to defense when putting together this team. However, it’s very surprising this team has been so bad on offense.
They have the third-lowest offensive rating of any team in the NBA, and they haven’t shot well or hit threes. Only a handful of players are hitting better than 46 percent from the floor, and Fred Hoiberg has been tinkering with his rotations all year to try to fix that. Thus far, it hasn’t succeeded, but he has been getting a lot of players minutes.
Player to Watch
Talking about anyone other than Giannis Antetokounmpo here would feel a bit like sacrilege. The Greek Freak has been fantastic this season, and he has taken his game to another level. He is probably the best player in the Eastern Conference at this point, and he is averaging 25.8 PPG and 12.7 RPG this year while becoming a defensive presence too. The only weakness in his game is his inability to hit threes, which is fine for a 6’11 power forward, especially because he does everything else so well.
Live Betting Preview
Milwaukee is going to roll in this one. The Bucks are out to show they are the real deal, and they will be out to dominate the Bulls on Friday night.
NBA ATS Pick: Bucks 124, Bulls 103
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