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The Milwaukee Bucks bring the league’s best record to Tinseltown as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night at the Staples Center.
NBA’s Best
Who would have thought that the Bucks would be on top of the mountain at this stage of the season? Don’t look now but the Bucks have the best record in the league and are 2.5 games ahead of the Toronto Raptors not just in the battle for the Eastern Conference but for home court advantage throughout the entire playoffs.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been all over the stat sheets. The Greek Freak is averaging 27.0 points, 12.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.5 blocks per game this season. Khris Middleton is the team’s second best scorer at 17.4 points per game. Guards Malcolm Brogdon and Eric Bledsoe have been contributing 16.0 and 15.7 points per game, respectively. The newly acquired Nikola Mirotic has been averaging 14.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in his new city.
Milwaukee is the second highest scoring team in the league at 117.4 points per game. They are ranked 8th in scoring defense at 107.8 opponent points per game allowed. The Bucks are the top rebounding team in the NBA at 49.0 boards per contest.
Bucks
-190
Lakers
+165
Odds from betonline.ag as of 3/01/19
Desperate Times
Desperate times call for desperate measures and for the Los Angeles Lakers that may mean maximizing LeBron James’ abilities. With the Lakers still out of playoff position, King James has played at least 37 minutes in his last five games played. James has no complaints but you’ve got to wonder how long can a 34-year old body keep up that pace, especially coming off an injury.
James leads the Lakers in almost every major statistical category. King James is averaging 26.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram are providing James the much-needed scoring support at 19.2 and 17.9 points per game, respectively. Rajon Rondo has been filling in nicely for the injured Lonzo Ball as the veteran guard is averaging 8.4 points and 7.4 assists per game.
The Lakers rank 13th in the league in scoring at 112.4 points per game. They are 11th in passing at 25.2 assists per game and the Purple and Gold are 7th off the glass with 46.8 rebounds per contest. Los Angeles has the 8th worst scoring defense in the NBA at 113.6 opponent points per game allowed.
Who Wins?
Milwaukee is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games played and the Bucks are 6-0 SU in their last six road games. Los Angeles is 4-6 SU in its last 10 games. The Lakers are 2-0 in their last two home games played. Head to head, the Bucks are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games against the Lakers.
The Bucks continue to roll even after the All-Star break. Milwaukee has won six in row entering Thursday’s games and the Bucks have lost just once in their last 14 games. You have to think that the Law of Averages is going to catch up with them very soon but I just can’t imagine it in a game against the struggling Lakers.
Relive The Prez's EPIC dunk on Lebron from his rookie season ahead of tomorrow's matchup with the Lakers!!#FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/pzRJfjUr9t
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) March 1, 2019
Pressure continues to mount in Los Angeles as the Lakers are starting to run out of games to win. The Lakers are still three games off the 8th seed and they aren’t playing as good and as hard as they want to if they want to make a playoff run. LeBron James has been playing well but hasn’t been able to get consistent production from his teammates.
This is the first meeting between these two teams this season but you bet there won’t be any feeling out process here. The Bucks want to increase their lead in the team standings while the Lakers are desperate to get back in the playoff picture. The Lakers are a good 18-12 SU at home this season but the Bucks have been impressive on the road as well at 22-9 SU away from home. I’ll ride the hot team here and believe that momentum is going to power them to another road win.
I’m picking the Milwaukee Bucks to beat the Los Angeles Lakers on 3/1/19.
Other Bets To Make
The Bucks are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games. Milwaukee is 5-1 ATS in their last six road games played. The Lakers are 4-6 ATS in their last 10 games played. Los Angeles is 1-1 ATS in their last two games at home. Head to head, the Lakers are 6-3-1 ATS in their last 10 game against the Bucks.
Bucks
-4.5 (-110)
Lakers
+4.5 (-110)
Odds from betonline.ag as of 3/01/19
The Bucks are 6-1 ATS in their last seven road games against opponents with a winning home record, 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games after an ATS loss and 15-5-2 ATS in their last 22 road games. On the other hand, the Lakers are 2-6-1 ATS in their last nine games against the Central Division, 6-19-1 ATS in their last 26 games versus the Eastern Conference and 7-18-1 in their last 26 games after an ATS win. The Bucks have played well against the spread on the road while the Lakers have struggled against the spread, period.
Prediction: Bucks -4.5
The under is 6-4 in the Bucks’ last 10 games played and the under is also 4-2 in Milwaukee’s last six road games. The total has gone over in six out of the last 10 games played by the Lakers. Los Angeles has seen the total go under in 21 out of their 30 home games played this season. Head to head, the under is 2-1 in the last three meetings between these two squads.
Bucks
O 236.5 -110
Lakers
U 236.5 -110
Odds from betonline.ag as of 3/01/19
The under is 4-1 in the Bucks’ last five games after scoring 100 or more points in their previous game and the total has gone under in five out of their last seven games. The total has gone under in five out of the last six games of the Lakers against Central Division teams and the under is 4-1 in the Lakers’ last five home games against opponents with winning road records. Los Angeles has struggled to score against the elite teams but what more against an elite team with an elite defense?
Prediction: Under 236.5
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