Bucks vs. Heat Prediction: NBA Odds, Point Spread
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Charlie Grant
Two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference go at it on Monday night in South Florida when the Milwaukee Bucks play the Miami Heat on the second night of a back-to-back set. The Bucks are the runaway favourites in the East, but they could be down one of their key contributors for a second straight game.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Milwaukee was held to a season-low 93 points against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday afternoon. The Bucks are averaging close to 120 points per game and are far and away the league’s best offensive side. Still, the Under is 3-0 in their last three games.
Defence is part of the reason for the cashed Under tickets. The Deer have held their opponents to fewer than 100 points in four of their last five games. They’re undefeated in their six games since the All-Star break and they’re 4-2 against the spread (ATS) during the same period.
The Bucks are 7-1 ATS playing on zero days’ rest and they’re 23-14 against the number when playing against Eastern Conference opponents. They lost to the Heat 131-126 in overtime at home in their second game of the season. The two sides haven’t played since.
Miami hasn’t seen the lift it was hoping for when the club acquired Andre Iguodala at the trade deadline. The Heat are 4-6 SU and 3-7 ATS since shipping Justise Winslow to Memphis for Iguodala and Jae Crowder.
Pat Riley’s group went from fighting the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics for the second seed in the conference to holding off the Philadelphia 76ers for fourth place. Miami remains the best home bet in the Association at 19-9-1 ATS, but the squad is 1-2 against the number in its last three home dates.
Milwaukee Bucks
Khris Middleton – the Bucks second-leading scorer and two-time All-Star – dealing with a sore neck. He sat out Sunday’s game against Buzz City and he’s listed as questionable to play on Monday.
Middleton is enjoying his best shooting season of his career. He’s making over 50 percent of his shots despite living primarily on the perimeter. His absence – along with Charlotte’s crawl-like playing pace – played a large part in the Bucks’ low scoring total on Sunday.
Miami Heat
Jimmy Butler got his wish this offseason. He got his money (four-year $142 million contract), and he got to be option No. 1 on a good team. Butler is Miami’s best player, but the young core is the reason this team surprised so many at the start of the season. Bam Adebayo, Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson all start and average a combined 44.8 points per game.