NBA: Milwaukee Bucks vs. New Orleans Pelicans Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Milwaukee Bucks head to Louisiana, where they clash with the contenders for the top seed in the West Conference, New Orleans Pelicans. The two sides usually bring interesting battles with lots of points and attractive moves, and we expect to see the same tonight. Giannis didn’t play in the last game for the Bucks, yet he is back in the lineup in Louisiana. On the other side, the Pels experienced a few big blows lately, which led to losing the top seed. Zion and to boys want to get it back as soon as possible.

Preview

Milwaukee Bucks (21-8, -115) posted subsequent wins and losses in the past five events, mostly winning at home and losing on the road. For the moment, the Bucks suffered back-to-back defeats away from Wisconsin. One was in Texas, where Houston Rockets beat Milwaukee, 97-92, and the one following that in Memphis, where the Grizzlies humiliated the former champions, 142-101.

Yet, the Bucks beat the Warriors and the Jazzers in between and after these games, with the most recent contest being against the Utah Jazz at Fiserv. That contest concluded with the hosts triumphing 123-97, even though Mike Budenholzer played without Giannis.

Bobby Portis had a superb game with 22 points and 14 boards, while Jrue Holiday had 21 buckets, eight assists and four boards. Brook Lopez did his part of the job with 18 points and eight boards, and Grayson Allen added 13. That was pretty much all from the Bucks, who didn’t have Khris Middleton too. Unlike Giannis, Middleton won’t play tonight.

New Orleans Pelicans (18-11, +100) lost the past three games, which were all on the road. For the moment, the Pels are 12-3 at home, and 6-8 away from Louisiana, which suggests that even though we saw some improvement in their performances, there is a long way ahead of this unit in order to become competitive at the highest possible level.

The Pelicans had two defeats in Utah against the Jazzers, and after that lost in Phoenix against the Suns, 118-114. It was one of the worst experiences in the history of the franchise, with them leading more than 20 points at one moment, and eventually losing.

Devin Booker dropped 58 on them, ripping apart the backcourt. Zion had 30 points with nine assists, 12-for-15, and CJ McCollum had 27 with 11 hits in 19 tries. There were no other players who could help them two, which was eventually the reason for this defeat and a big slowdown in the second half.

Head to Head Games

Last year we saw both teams winning at home, the Pelicans in New Orleans, 116-112 after overtime, and the Bucks at Fiserv, 136-113. Overall, their games are usually very efficient.

Prediction

The line for totals in this game is set at 226.5 points, and for us, this is a nice opportunity for playing over. Six of the past seven head-to-head events in Louisiana went in Over, and all the circumstances suggest that this one should end similarly. Simply, these two units play fast and aggressive basketball, have excellent offensive potential, and we need to use that.

Pick: Over 226.5 points -110