Two of the top NBA teams meet up in Milwaukee this Friday night as the Bucks hold the NBA Champions Golden State Warriors! Milwaukee have made a great start to the season with a 16-7 record and a 2nd seed in the East while Golden State have been up and down but with Steph Curry back they have seemingly regained good play and have improved to 17-9 themselves. Milwaukee dominated and completely beat the Warriors down in Golden State earlier this season winning 134-111 and we definitely know that the Warriors will have that at the back of their minds as they seek revenge in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee Bucks
It’s been probably the best we’ve seen the Bucks play in the Giannis era to start this season as they’ve established themselves as a contender in the East. Bucks are currently as mentioned 16-7 and sit 2nd in the East with Giannis playing out of his mind averaging 27/13/6 and they’ve laid down some serious statement wins already this season having beaten Portland by 43, Denver twice, Philadelphia by 15, Sacramento by 35, Toronto by 15 and as mentioned the same Warriors by 23 in Golden State so it’s pretty clear that the Bucks have been turning up for big games and beating down their opponents quite massively. Bucks have had a bit of a dip in form recently however losing 3 of their last 6 but it seems like they’re just fine after they beat down Detroit 115-92 on Wednesday night. In terms of injuries, John Henson is out, Ersan Ilyasova has been upgraded to probable while Khris Middleton will return and play normal minutes after surprisingly missing out Wednesdays game for unknown reasons which are likely personal.
Predicted Starting Lineup – E.Bledsoe, M.Brogdon, Middleton, G.Antetokounmpo, B.Lopez
Injuries – J.Henson – OUT, E.Ilyasova – Probable
Golden State Warriors
After a tough stretch without Curry, the Warriors have gotten their star man back and everything looks fine again! Steph has not skipped a beat playing great basketball and the Warriors are 2-1 since he returned losing to Detroit but then laying a beat down in Atlanta and Cleveland. The real test comes here however as they face an elite Bucks squad and if they come away with a win then we can well and truly say the Warriors are back to their best. Warriors have had great success playing in Milwaukee in recent years and they’ll be hoping to continue this. We can assure that that defeat in the first meeting of the season will be at the back of the Golden State minds and they’ll be motivated to return the favour. Warriors are now returning to full health as mentioned with Curry back, also energetic rookie McKinnie has returned while Draymond Green could also be back as he’s listed as questionable. Damian Jones is out however with a long term injury and Cousins is still out of course.
Predicted Starting Lineup – S.Curry, K.Thompson, K.Durant, A.Iguodala (D.Green if back), K.Looney
Injuries – D.Jones, D.Cousins – OUT, D.Green – Questionable
Key Facts
Milwaukee Bucks are 12-2 at home this season
The Bucks are currently 5-2 against top 5 seeds in both conferences this season. Don’t shy away from big occasions.
Milwaukee Bucks average the most ppg in the NBA this season at 121.1. They’re the only team to average 120+ ppg this season. They average 122.1 pts at home.
Bucks have the best OFF RTG in the NBA this season (115.1).
Bucks are also one of the fastest teams in the NBA at 4th in Pace (104.25).
On average bucks give up 110.4 ppg which is 14th best opp ppg ratio. They are however 6th in DEF RTG (105.0).
Giannis Antetokounmpo has scored 33+ pts in 5 of his last 7 games.
Golden State are second in OFF RTG in the NBA (114.9)
Warriors are 3rd in PPG at 116.8. However they average an incredible 121.8 ppg when Curry plays.
Warriors are only 18th in Pace this season (100.85). However they have missed Curry for half the season nearly.
Warriors are only 20th in allowed PPG giving up 111.2 ppg and they’re just 19th in DEF RTG (109.4).
Warriors are 6-7 on the road. However they’re 6-2 on the road with Steph Curry
Warriors have won back to back road games scoring 128 and 129 pts in Atlanta and Cleveland.
Steph Curry is averaging 33 ppg in 3 games since returning from injury.
Warriors have beaten the Bucks on the road in 4 of their last 5 visits to Milwaukee.
Betting Tips and Predictions
We’ve arguably got two best offensive teams in the NBA tonight therefore we can anticipate a very high scoring game. With Curry, Warriors are the best offensive team and the Bucks themselves are listed as 1st right now and would be 2nd if Steph was fully healthy for GS this season. Both teams tend to score around 120+ pts at full health and we will have all the top offensive players playing tonight. Over 239.5 pts at 1.86 is our pick. The first meeting saw 245 pts and the Warriors didn’t even play good basketball which should be completely different this time around. The Bucks themselves will score a lot they are too loaded offensively not to plus the Warriors slack defensively anyway this season especially if Green is out. Bucks are good defensively but their high paced play will lead to more possessions and more points plus the Warriors are too explosive anyway not to score on them so adding all that should really lead us to around 245-250 total pts here. A Warriors Win at 2.02 is value here. With Klay KD Steph all playing you simply have to take these odds no matter who they play, they’re that good and if one if them explodes the Warriors are likely to win and as we’ve mentioned a few times already the Warriors are likely to be motivated to bounce back against this opposition which only makes them more dangerous. Warriors win and 239.5 points over are our picks for tonight’s game.
Match Odds (Unibet)
Milwaukee Bucks Win – 1.83
Golden State Warriors Win – 2.02
Match Start – 8th December 2018 – 2:30am UK Time
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