Milwaukee Bucks vs. New York Knicks Prediction, NBA Odds

Edgar Chaput | Updated Jan 12, 2025

NBA: San Antonio Spurs at Milwaukee Bucks

Two teams fighting for spots in the Eastern Conference top four meet on Sunday afternoon when the Milwaukee Bucks visit the New York Knicks.

Milwaukee
29-24
AT
January 12, 2025, 3:00 PM ET
Madison Square Garden
New York
36-18
Pointspread +4.5 -105
Moneyline +165
Over / Under o +227.5
Pointspread -4.5 -115
Moneyline -200
Over / Under u +227.5

A month into the season the Milwaukee Bucks were thought to be a derelict ship, but ever since their impressive showing in the NBA Cup, head coach Doc Rivers has turned things around. They’re only 3.5 games behind the New York Knicks for third in the conference after winning on Friday night, 109-106. New York was on a nine-game winning streak but has cooled off since. That was painfully evident Friday at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who pounded them 126-101.

Check out NBA odds, which peg the host Knicks as -4.5 favourites.

Bucks vs. Knicks NBA Betting Odds

New York and Milwaukee have already crossed paths on the hardwood floor once this season. In the early days of the campaign in November, the Knicks took the Bucks to the cleaners, 116-94. That was the Knicks’ third consecutive win over the Bucks, dating back to last season. Before that, the Wisconsin-based franchise had enjoyed a seven-game winning streak.

Milwaukee appears to have steered the ship from various bumps in the road that afflicted the early parts of their season. Not only are they riding a run of three wins, but they’re also 16-7 since Nov. 18. Rivers has them playing much sounder defence than before, as they only concede 110.7 points per game (ninth in the NBA), and the fifth-lowest shooting percentage (45.2 per cent). The only thing that hasn’t gone their way yet are results against the spread, what with a 15-20-1 tally thus far.

Despite the impressive 25-14 straight up record, there may be some reasons for concern in New York. The nine-game run of success the club enjoyed in December and January included wins against a depleted Magic side, the Jazz, the Wizards, and the Pelicans. When faced against stauncher opposition, things haven’t always gone so well, such as a recent revenge match against Orlando and two games versus Oklahoma City. Covering the spread has been difficult lately, with the Knicks only 1-4-0 in their last five.

Milwaukee Bucks

The stage was set Friday night for the Bucks to take a tumble. They embarked on a road trip, starting south in Florida to face a Magic side that had Poalo Banchero back in the lineup.

What resulted was one of the better games on the night in which neither side ever led by more than nine points, and even then it was often much closer. In the end, Milwaukee survived courtesy of a 109-106 victory, riding the fourth-quarter coat tails of Damian Lillard. The latter didn’t even lead the side in scoring (29 points) but frequently slinked his way in the paint for circus act-style buckets when the Bucks needed it most. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a massive 41-point evening and corralled 14 rebounds, which masked his 3/10 free throw shooting.

Khris Middleton (11 points) and Bobby Portis (11 points) came off the bench and finished with some of the better player ratings at plus-6 and plus-12, respectively.

New York Knicks

The Knicks have Saturday to pick up the pieces from what transpired at Madison Square Garden on Friday. A week after putting up a terrific fight in a narrow defeat at Oklahoma City, they were clearly the inferior team at home against the Thunder.

So often in today’s NBA teams that race out to significant early leads fail to build on or cling to them. Not this time. New York trailed 31-17 at the end of the first quarter that was all she wrote. At one point the Knicks trailed by as many as 30 points. They shot 12.9 per cent from distance and 38.6 per cent overall. That they won the turnover battle 15-12 hardly mattered.

Jalen Brunson finished with a team-high 27 points, followed by Karl-Anthony Towns’ 23, but Mikal Bridges laid a goose egg and OG Anunoby only had four.

NBA Prediction: Who Will Win Bucks vs. Knicks?

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