Milwaukee Bucks vs Los Angeles Lakers betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game on ESPN. The Lakers start off their tough 6-game road trip against one of the elite teams in the East, the Bucks as the two teams clash for the 1st of 2 regular season games. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Milwaukee Bucks
Everything seems to be clicking for the Milwaukee Bucks again, after a week of injuries that slowed down Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday. The talented duo is back together, and this team is on a 3-game win streak. Further reinforcements are also on the way as Khris Middleton approaches his comeback date from offseason surgery he had on his wrist.
With him in the line-up the Bucks offense will take a whole new dimension, this team is 15-5 SU in 20 games so far and has lost just twice in 13 home games. They also have a pretty good track record against the Lakers with 8 wins in 10 games, plus they’ve gone 7-3 ATS during that stretch. Western Conference teams haven’t had much luck when facing the Bucks lately, Milwaukee is 6-1 SU in their last 7 such games.
Los Angeles Lakers
It was important for the Lakers to get a win before embarking on what will be their toughest road trip of the season so far. They took care of business at home 128-109 vs the shorthanded Blazers, making the most out of LeBron James scoring 31 points and Anthony Davis adding 27 and 12 rebounds.
It was LA’s 6th win in 8 games, they’ve also covered the spread 6 times during that span of games. It is worth noting that in those 6 wins they beat the struggling Spurs 3 times, so I wouldn’t put too much weight into those numbers. You don’t normally see the Lakers as 8-point underdogs these days, in that role they are just 3-9 SU in 12 games this season. Starting tonight, this stretch of games in early December could determine the playoff faith of this team.
As dominant as Milwaukee has been, Middleton returning to the line-up could disrupt their chemistry a bit here. The Lakers have been decent as of late, I think they’ll have it in them to at least keep this game somewhat close. Back the road team to cover here.
Milwaukee Bucks vs Los Angeles Lakers Predictions & Odds
At 228.5 points the projected total sounds a bit too high, at least to me. Especially when we look at the head-to-head stats, 6 of the last 7 meetings have all gone under the total, including the last 5 played at Fiserv Forum. LA’s last 4 of 6 games have also gone under the total, they’ve been surprisingly good on defense ranking 7th in defensive rating.
The Bucks are the best team in that category this season, they allow just 106.5 points per 100 possessions. The last 10 meetings are averaging 221.8 points per game, with the two teams shooting 47% and 44% from the field, so neither team has excelled offensively in this match-up. On the road the Lakers are scoring 110 points a night, while at home the Bucks are scoring 115.6 points. Combine those two numbers and we will remain under the total here, so let’s back that.
