The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee in the second of back to back games for the home team.
On Saturday, the Cavs bounced back from a 110-129 thrashing at the hands of the Sacramento Kings with a resounding 116-101 win over the Washington Wizards at home. The win was only Cleveland’s second in its last eight games but snapped a two game losing streak. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks recovered from a 10 points loss to the defending champion Golden State Warriors by defeating the Eastern Conference leaders Toronto Raptors 105-99 in Toronto on Sunday night.
As if the Cavaliers are not short handed with Kevin Love still on the mend, they played with only 10 players on Saturday yet came out with an easy home win over the Washington Wizards. Not only do the Cavs have players on the injured list, they also missed a couple of guys following Friday’s trade that brought Matthew Dellavedova back to The Land.
Dellavedova watched Saturday’s game on the bench and in street clothes but he surely enjoyed watching rookie Collin Sexton put on a show against the East’s top point guard in John Wall. Sexton scored 29 points while Wall mustered only one free throw in the entire game. Tristan Thompson scored 23 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as the Cavs led by as much as 29 points in the second half against the Wizards. They hope to carry the momentum as they face the Milwaukee Bucks on the road on Monday night.
For the second in as many times this season, the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Eastern Conference leaders Toronto Raptors. Last October 29th, the Bucks handed the Raptors their first loss of the season with a 124-109 victory. Neither Giannis Antetokounmpo nor Kawhi Leonard played in that game. On Sunday, both stars were on hand as the Bucks repeated with a 104-99 win in Toronto. The win put the Bucks just 2.5 games behind the Raptors on top of the Eastern Conference leaderboard.
Antetokounmpo scored just 19 points on Sunday but he did tie a season-best 19 rebounds for the Bucks. But it was Malcolm Brogdon who made two three pointers in the final 67 seconds to pull the Bucks to victory. Kawhi Leonard scored 20 for Toronto which lost its second straight game, only their second losing streak of the season. As for the Bucks, the win was their third in their last five games played.
The Cavs and Bucks have played a total of 211 times during the NBA regular season with the Bucks leading their all-time series 118-93. Cleveland has taken six out of the last seven meetings between these teams including a 124-117 win during their most recent encounter last March 19, 2018.
The Cavs are 2-3 SU in their last five games played and are 2-10 SU in ten road games played so far this season. The Bucks are 3-2 SU in their last five games played and are 12-3 SU in fifteen home games played so far this year. Head to head, the Cavaliers are 8-2 SU in their last 10 meetings. Cleveland is also 5-3 SU in their last eight meetings in Milwaukee.
Props to Cleveland for coming up with a big win over the Wizards on Saturday. But the Bucks are also coming off a win, one bigger because it came against the Eastern Conference leaders Toronto. Milwaukee is playing back to back games so fatigue may be a factor. Meanwhile, the Cavs are playing short handed so that may also be a factor in this game.
Talentwise, the Bucks have much more talent than the Cavs and they also have their superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo to lead them against Cleveland who is still without their own star, Kevin Love. Sexton is coming off a good game but he will have his hands full with Malcolm Brogdon and Eric Bledsoe. The Cavs are only 2-10 on the road while the Bucks are 12-3 at home. I like the home team to beat up a short handed visiting team here. We’re picking the Milwaukee Bucks to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on 12/1018.
Cleveland is an even 13-13 ATS in 26 games played so far this season. They are a good 7-5 ATS in twelve road games. The Bucks are 12-11-1 ATS in 24 games played this season. Milwaukee is 9-5-1 ATS in 15 home games played so far. Head to head, the Cavaliers are 5-4-1 SU in their last 10 meetings against Milwaukee.
The Cavs are 1-5 ATS in their last six games played on one day rest. The Bucks are 18-7-1 in their last 26 games on zero days rest. Milwaukee is also 4-1 ATS in their last five against the Central Division and 3-1-1 ATS in their last five Monday games. I don’t think fatigue will be a factor because the Bucks are playing at home. Prediction: Bucks -13.5
The under is 12-14 in Cleveland’s 26 games played this season and the total has gone under in five out of the last seven road games for the Cavaliers. Meanwhile, the total has gone over in 15 out of the 24 games played the by Bucks and the over is 9-6 in Milwaukee’s fifteen home games played so far. Head to head, the over is 8-2 in their last 10 games played.
The Bucks are the #1 scoring team in the league and they are going to put on an offensive show in front of their hometown crowd. The Cavs score just 103.46 points per game but have averaged 110.33 in their last three games played. Antetokounmpo is coming off a 19-point night and you bet he wants to have a big bounce back game too. Prediction: Over 221
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
