Milwaukee (10-6) vs Toronto (7-10)
When: Wednesday, January 27th, 2021
Where: Amalie Arena,
Tampa, Florida
Time: 7:30 ET | TV: NBA Full Court
Opening Odds: Milwaukee -6/225
The Milwaukee Bucks will try and cool off a suddenly hot Toronto Raptors team when they meet in Tampa, Fla. this Wednesday night. The Bucks had a terrific offseason after they were able to sign Giannis Antetokounmpo to long-term contract extension as well as trading for former New Orleans Pelicans All-Star guard Jrue Holiday. Milwaukee led the NBA in wins the past two regular seasons but came up short in the playoffs both times – one of those to these Raptors. The Bucks have failed their two biggest tests thus far with losses to the Nets and the defending champion Lakers in the last week. Milwaukee is coming off a nice 129-115 home win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday to move within one game of the Philadelphia 76ers for the Eastern Conference top seed. The Raptors will try to build on their recent success at their temporary home in Tampa, Fla., who were 4-1 on their recent homestand and return for a three-game stand after splitting a two-game visit to the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis. The Raptors are 5-3 overall at home and 2-7 in away games.
Last season, the Bucks won two of three vs. Toronto and the Greek Freak averaged 27.5 points, 17.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 3.5 blocks. Khris Middleton put up 16.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, while Kyle Lowry averaged 23.0 points and 6.0 assists. Pascal Siakam, who is questionable for Wednesday’s game, averaged 17.3 points and 6.0 rebounds last season versus the Bucks. Milwaukee has covered the spread in seven of the past 10 regular-season meetings.
After having a game last Friday vs. Washington postponed due to COVID issues with the Wizards, Milwaukee ended a two-game slide with a 129-115 home win over Atlanta on Sunday. The Bucks lead the NBA in scoring at 120.1 ppg with Antetokounmpo leading the way in just about every offensive category. He had 27 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists against the Hawks, while Middleton had 19 points. Middleton is having a career season in averaging 21.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists. He’s on track to post a rare 50/40/90 season in terms of overall field-goal percentage (52.2), three-point percentage (42.6) and free-throw percentage (92.0). On his first basket of the game, Antetokounmpo passed Marques Johnson on the Bucks’ career scoring list and is sixth all-time with 11,007 points. Milwaukee will be at New Orleans on Friday.
The Raptors weren’t able to get the two-game sweep at Indiana on Monday, losing 129-114 and playing a second straight game without Siakam due to swelling in his left knee. Still, Toronto has won five of their last seven overall. Lowry returned from a one-game injury absence (toe) but was held to 12 points on 2-for-11 shooting and was ejected late in the game. He needs two points to join DeMar DeRozan (13,296) and Chris Bosh (10,275) as the only players in franchise history to score 10,000 career points. Norman Powell started over Stanley Johnson and had 24 points, six rebounds and six assists. Toronto actually led by two with just under 10 minutes left, but it was all Pacers after that. The Raptors will host Sacramento on Friday night.
Toronto has been playing well lately and they’re getting too many points here to pass up. The Raptors have covered five of the last seven meetings, while the Bucks have failed to cover their last seven games after winning by double-digits in their previous game.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for today.
Pick: Raptors +6.5
