Milwaukee Bucks vs Toronto Raptors betting tips and predictions for Tuesday’s NBA game on TNT. All eyes are on the knee of Giannis Antetokounmpo as his Bucks welcome the Raptors to town for only the 2nd meeting of the season between the two teams. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Milwaukee Bucks
It’s been a rough stretch for the Bucks without their best player Giannis, but they got back on track last night with a win over the Indiana Pacers 132-119. Not a lot of defense was played as the final score indicates, but the Bucks will take any win they can at the moment without their superstar. It is unknown whether or not he will take part in tonight’s game, so it will be up to Jrue Holiday to once again lead the way with another big game like he had last night with 35 points and 11 assists.
Bobby Portis also stepped up with 21 and 11 rebounds, this might actually be a blessing in disguise for Milwaukee as the usage rate of a lot of other players will go up which will make them more ready for when the postseason arrives. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves though, they still have to beat the Raptors tonight. In their last 5 home games against them they are 0-5 ATS.
Toronto Raptors
Toronto has owned the Bucks for some reason winning 5 of the last 6 meetings and covering as many times. Aside from the injury to Otto Porter Jr., they are pretty much at full strength here which might prove to be the difference. They also have the added incentive of wanting to get revenge for the loss in the 1st meeting of the season when Milwaukee won in OT some 10 days ago.
A lot will depend on Fred VanVleet here, he’s coming off a 33 point performance in the win at Madison Square Garden last night. That game did go to overtime, so playing on a 2nd night of a back-to-back could be an issue here. Toronto finds itself on the brink of elimination from the postseason in 11th place currently, they are 4.5 games back from the 6th seed and an automatic spot in the playoffs.
Both teams played last night, but the Bucks game didn’t go to overtime and unlike the Raptors they didn’t have to travel in between games. They also might get Giannis back, so I’m sticking with Milwaukee here.
Milwaukee Bucks vs Toronto Raptors Predictions & Odds
There could be some tired legs out there as it’ll be a 2nd game in less than 48 hours for both teams. Defense was the calling card for both teams in the 1st meeting of the season as we saw only 205 points scored despite the game going into overtime. Just 213.3 points per game have been averaged over the last 10 meetings, while over the last 12 head-to-head the total has gone under 10 times.
Milwaukee does have a habit going under the total vs Eastern Conference teams with their last 5 of 7 games cashing on that bet. That’s no surprise considering they are 5th in defensive efficiency this season allowing 108.4 points per game, I know we saw a lot of points against Indiana last night, but Toronto’s approach to this game will be vastly different. With all the signs pointing to a low scoring game, I think backing the under is the way to go here.
