Free Picks: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Portland Trail Blazers

Alex Murray
By: Alex Murray
02/02/2021
NBA Free Picks – Best Bets of the Week
Bucks vs Trail Blazers NBA
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Portland Trail Blazers, NBA, Fiserv Forum

The 11-8 Milwaukee Bucks started the season off well but have now lost four of their past six, including their last two in a row. They’ll be desperate to get back on track in their next game, which will come at home against the 10-8 Portland Trail Blazers, who are coming off of a buzzer-beating win over the lowly Chicago Bulls courtesy of Damian Lillard.

Giannis, Bucks Look To Get Back In Win Column On Monday Night (Season Betting Record: 25-24)

The Bucks lost back-to-back tough, close games against title contenders in the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, then bounced back with a pair of wins, but they couldn’t sustain that momentum and lost their next two. They were dominated by the New Orleans Pelicans nearly all game before a late surge that fell short, and it was a similar game script against the lowly Charlotte Hornets in Milwaukee’s most recent game on Saturday, which Charlotte finished on a 10-0 run that certainly didn’t make the Bucks look too good.

On the other side of the court at Fiserv on the first night of February are the Blazers, who are certainly tempering excitement after that Lillard game-winner considering they’ve still lost three of their past five. Portland is always a threat because of how explosive Dame Dolla can be when he heats up, but without Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins, and CJ McCollum, every game is a struggle for Lillard and the lads.

Portland is also coming into a situation that they haven’t exactly thrived in during this campaign. The Blazers have gone just 3-6 against the spread following a win this season, and they’ve also been awful when playing a game on the same rest as their opponents, going 2-7 in those situations this year.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has not lost three straight regular season games since the second day of March in 2018, so you can bet that the Greek and his freaky teammates are going to come out hungry on Monday night and right the ship, because Milwaukee’s dinghy is rocking like it hasn’t done in years. If Milwaukee is going to be a contender this season as we believe they will be, they simply can’t afford to fall into ruts of three or four games.

Not that they’ll be matching up with each other very often, but Antetokounmpo has historically owned his head-to-head series against Lillard, winning eight of their 12 meetings. It’s not just Giannis who likes to play against Lillard though, Milwaukee as a whole has been dominating Portland over the past few years, winning seven of the past eight matchups.

We don’t love the double-digit NBA point spread being given to the Bucks, but we do love Milwaukee overall on Monday night, so an alternate -7.5 point spread at -154 odds (22Bet) is looking like one of the best bets for today.

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Milwaukee Bucks -7.5 Alternate Point Spread
-154 odds

Stats

  • Portland has lost 7 of the past 8 meetings
  • Portland is 1-4-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Milwaukee
  • Portland is 2-9 ATS in their last 11 Monday games
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo has not lost 3 straight reg. season games since Mar. 2018

Alex is an alumnus of Ryerson University's RTA Sport Media program, a contributing NHL, NBA, and MLB writer in the BetPicks.ca team. He has been writing on sports, betting, and fantasy contests for several years, including pitstops as an NFL Editor for theScore and as one of the lead NBA news writers for fantasy sports site FantasyPros. As a lifelong athlete, bettor, and sports fan, Alex is uniquely qualified to help you reach the sports betting success that you've always dreamed of and your wife never believed you could achieve.

NBA - East Standings

 

NBA LogoTeamWLPCT
1Heat5329.646
2Celtics5131.622
3Bucks5131.622
476ers5131.622
5Raptors4834.585
6Bulls4636.561
7Nets4438.537
8Hawks4339.524
9Cavaliers4438.537
10Hornets4339.524
11Knicks3745.451
12Wizards3547.427
13Pacers2557.305
14Pistons2359.280
15Magic2260.268

 

NBA - West Standings

 

NBA LogoTeamWLPCT
1Suns6418.780
2Grizzlies5626.683
3Warriors5329.646
4Mavericks5230.634
5Jazz4933.598
6Nuggets4834.585
7Wolves4636.561
8Pelicans3646.439
9Clippers4240.512
10Spurs3448.415
11Lakers3349.402
12Kings3052.366
13Blazers2755.329
14Thunder2458.293
15Rockets2062.244

 

NBA Key Dates

2021-2022 Season
Regular season beginsOctober 19
NBA All-Star 2022February 18-20
Regular season concludesApril 10
Play-In TournamentApril 12-1517
Playoffs beginApril 16
NBA Finals beginJune 2
Game 7 of NBA FinalsJune 19
NBA DraftJune 23