NBA: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Toronto Raptors Preview, Odds, Prediction

The tired Milwaukee Bucks are traveling to Canada for a meeting with the Toronto Raptors. Less than 24 hours after facing the charlotte Hornets in one very interesting but exhausting matchup, the Bucks have to play again. This time, the rivals will be the Raptors, who aren’t in a good situation. With three defeats in a row, Toronto most definitely slowed down compared to its performances a month ago. They aren’t in the playoff zone, but the postseason wasn’t in the management’s plans before the campaign began. The game at the Scotiabank Arena looks promising, which is why we decided to cover it.

Preview

Milwaukee Bucks (14-8, -170) have eight straight wins, with the previous one coming last night against the Charlotte Hornets. In a thriller at the Fiserv Forum, the hosts managed to squeeze out a 127-125 victory, as Giannis scored a layup with two seconds to go.

The Bucks couldn’t defend Charlotte’s long-range shots, and the guests hit 21 three-pointers while shooting 49.4% overall from the field. Milwaukee was better in all other aspects of the game, but the Hornets hang on due to this, with LaMelo Ball ruthlessly draining threes, ending the night with eight of them and 36 points.

Giannis scored 40 points, with 12 boards and nine assists. Khris Middleton had 21, six boards, and five assists, while Grayson Allen added 16 buckets and seven rebounds. Four more players from Milwaukee had a double-digit number of points.

Toronto Raptors (9-13, +145) lost three straight games, against the Pacers, the Celtics, and the Grizzlies, not being able to score more than 100 points in either. Something is happening with the offensive part of the team, who isn’t anywhere near the productivity from the start of the year. Many analysts point out that the Raptors’ bench contributes with the lowest number of points in the league, which might be the case for this sharp drop in results.

In a 98-91 loss against the Grizzlies, non-starters scored 25 points, which is a bit low, to be honest. Yuta Watanabe was the only one worth mentioning with 11 points. All the other guys had mediocre numbers, and neither eclipsed the six-point limit.

Pascal Siakam had a team-high 20 buckets, but hitting one of his six three-point attempts, Fred VanVleet shot 1-for-5 for three and had 15 boards, while the rookie, Scottie Barnes, ended the contest with 19 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks. He is pushing hard for the Rookie of the Year award and is the top favorite for the moment.

Head to Head Games

These teams didn’t meed in the 2021/22 season. But it is interesting that last year, the Raptors won in all three events, sweeping the regular-season series against the team who would later become the NBA champion.

Prediction

The Bucks are tired, as said previously, but are in fantastic shape, and that is why we back up their victory in this game. The odds are solid and mostly like that because they play the second of back-to-back games, with the bookies counting on the champs’ fatigue. We, on the other hand, are counting on their quality.

Pick: Milwaukee Wins -170