Milwaukee (0-0) at Boston (0-0)
When: Sunday, May 1st, 2022
Where: TD Garden,
Boston, MA
Time: 1:00 ET | TV: ABC
Opening Odds: Boston -4.5/218.5
The Boston Celtics have plenty of rest, and they will need it for their next series that starts on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden. Boston surprisingly swept away the Brooklyn Nets in four games in the first round and will now take on the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of the second round. The Celtics are 4.5-point favorites, with a total pegged at 217.5. The Bucks and Celtics split the four games during the regular season, with the home team winning each time. Boston covered the spread in all four, while the Over cashed in three. All five of the Bucks’ first round games against the Chicago Bulls fell to the Under, while Boston is 7-1 ATS over their last eight contests overall.
The Bucks fell from the No. 2 to No. 3 seed and lost home-court advantage in this series on the last day of the regular season. Milwaukee rested their starters and that may come back to haunt them later in this series. The Bucks took care of the Chicago Bulls in the first round, but lost forward Khris Middleton to a sprained MCL in Game 2. Middleton, who averages 20.1 points and 5.4 assists, will miss the first few games of this series, if not all. Game 2 will be on Tuesday before a three-day rest for Game 3 back in Milwaukee on May 7.
Middleton’s absence obviously puts more pressure to carry the load on Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 33 points and nine rebounds in the closing game against the Bulls on Wednesday. The Bucks dominated Chicago on both ends of the court the entire series, but Milwaukee will get one of the best defensive teams in Boston now. The Bucks averaged 109.8 points on 47.2 percent shooting from the field against the Bulls. They also knocked down 14.0 threes a game at a 38 percent clip. The trio of Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, and Brook Lopez, gives Milwaukee the size advantage against Boston.
Boston has been on a roll for months now, and are 37-10 since a buzzer-beater loss against the Knicks on Jan. 6. This will also be the first time Boston faces the Bucks at full strength this season. The starting lineup of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams, Al Horford and Marcus Smart are 27-7 together. Tatum led the way in Game 4 against Brooklyn, scoring 29 points, while Brown added 22 points and eight rebounds. Although the Nets averaged 109.0 points per game, Boston’s ability on defense contained Brooklyn’s top scorers. Tatum played three of four Celtics games against Milwaukee in the regular season and averaged 31.3 points.
Milwaukee is a solid team, but they’re not match for this red-hot Celtics team. I might not say that if Middleton were in the lineup. He will be sorely missed in this series. Boston has been the best team in the league for several months and I think they get the job done here in Game 1.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for today.
Pick: Celtics -4.5
