NBA: Brooklyn Nets vs Milwaukee Bucks Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Milwaukee Bucks have defeated the Brooklyn Nets in the first of their back-to-back matchups, and are now aiming to add another win against the same rivals. This match is very important because of several things. First, the Bucks can eventually reach the first spot in the East, and jump over the Nets and the 76ers. Also, it could open the door for Philly to recapture the top place in the conference. In general, it will have a major impact on the first three places in this assembly. At the moment, the 76ers are first half a game behind the Nets and three ahead of the Bucks.

Preview

Brooklyn Nets (43-22, +110) lost first place in the East with Sunday’s defeat at Fiserv, and they have to respond now, otherwise, things might be complicated before the playoffs. Especially because there is no clear timetable for James Harden’s return, which means that apart from pressure, the Nets need have the weakest possible team in the first round.

Losing to Milwaukee was their second straight failure, with the first one being at home against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, 128-109.

Yet, what makes Brooklyn’s fans happy was Kevin Durant’s performance against the Bucks. KD dropped 42 points and was looking as if he didn’t have any injury at all. Durant was light, smooth, and relentless throughout all 40 minutes on the floor, hitting seven threes in 13 attempts and adding 10 rebounds.

Milwaukee Bucks (40-24, -132) have two wins in a row, and what is more important, three more games at home in the next few days, which gives them the opportunity to put up more wins and improve the position in the standings.

If it weren’t for Giannis’ injury against the Houston Rockets and the loss against the same team, things would be much better for Mike Budenholzer’s side now.

Antetokounmpo was in beast-mode vs Bucks last night, scoring 49 points, hitting 21 of his 36 shots from the field, plus securing 8 boards and three blocks. All that in 36 minutes, which is very impressive. What was a bit odd for him and the entire Bucks’ team is a low number of free throws, just 12, meaning that they haven’t been properly aggressive.

Head to Head Games

Sunday’s event was the second this year, and the Bucks won ith 117-114. The first took place in Brooklyn on Monday, January 19, and the Nets fought off a narrow victory, 125-123.

Prediction

We will be risky here and go with the Nets’ victory, and here is why. First of all, we saw that Giannis’ sidekicks aren’t playing well at all in the recent few weeks and that apart from Khris Middleton, not one of all those players is capable of creating their own points. Middleton, too, wasn’t persuasive enough, in our opinion. On the other side, the Nets’ offense looks more diverse, and they will have more energy than Giannis who pretty much pulls all the strings in Milwaukee. This explanation might not be logical for some fans, but we really do believe in the Nets’ quick bounce back and a triumph here.