The Bucks drew first blood in their heavyweight bout against the Toronto Raptors. The Dinos hope to leave Milwaukee with the series split 1-1 or risk another playoff extinction.

Will this be a back-and-forth battle or did the Raptors squander their best chance of winning on the road in this series? Sports Interaction lists the Bucks as -280 moneyline favourites in Game 2 which equals about a 70 percent chance Giannis and Company will head to Toronto with a 2-0 series lead.

NBA Eastern Conference Finals Point Spread, Betting Analysis

Raptor backers have to feel cheated by the final score in Game 1. Toronto led 100-98 with 3:31 left in the fourth quarter. The probability charts tell us there was a 97 percent chance the Drakes would cover as 6.5-point underdogs when the final horn blew.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go well from there on out. The Raptors failed to score another point in the last three and a half minutes and lost 108-100. They dropped to 0-3 against the spread (ATS) in their last three games and 6-7 ATS in the playoffs overall.

Good fortune continues for Milwaukee bettors. The Bucks are now 9-1 straight up and against the number in the post-season. Game 1 finished well below the 218.5 total and the under improved to 10-3 in Toronto games in these playoffs.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and teammates are now large favourites to advance to the NBA Finals after winning their fifth straight game. The Bucks are a -455 chalk to win the East and second faves to win the 2019 NBA championship at +200.

NBA bettors like the Raptors’ chances in Game 2. About 82 percent of the spread bets are on the Dinos at +6.5.

Toronto Raptors

There are two ways of looking at Wednesday night’s setback for Toronto supporters. Optimists will argue there’s no chance Brook Lopez will repeat his 29-point performance. Of course, pessimists will say there’s no way Kyle Lowry is going to shoot that well again in this series.

Lowry made 10 of his 15 shots from the field including 7-of-9 from downtown in Game 1. He finished with 30 points and the seven made 3s were a playoff career high.

Pascal Siakam had a highlight-worthy dunk but was ineffective for most of the night with the Greek Freak guarding him. Spicy P finish with 15 points on 6-for-20 shooting from the field.

Milwaukee Bucks

Eric Bledsoe is the one Milwaukee player who didn’t cover himself in glory in Game 1. The team’s starting point guard shot just 1-for-9 on uncontested shots including several good looks from corner 3s.

RAPTORS

Away

109

BUCKS

Home

107

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