Bucks vs. Thunder Betting Line – December 29
Carrie Stroup here with your Bucks vs. Thunder betting line for Tuesday night Oklahoma City -13.5, Total: 205
MILWAUKEE BUCKS (12-20) at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (21-10)
The Thunder will be looking to stay in the win column when they host the Bucks on Tuesday.
Milwaukee will be coming into this contest with a bit of fatigue after facing the Mavericks in Dallas on Monday night. Prior to facing the Mavericks, the Bucks had won two of their past three games and they had also covered in three of their past four. Now they have lost two straight heading into Tuesday.
The Thunder, meanwhile, defeated the Nuggets 122-112 as 17-point favorites on Sunday. Oklahoma City has been on fire recently, winning four of its past five and 10 of its past 12 as well.
The Thunder have gotten the best of the Bucks recently, winning-and-covered in three of the past four meetings with them. Oklahoma City has covered in two straight victories against Milwaukee at home as well.
One trend that is interesting when looking at this matchup is that the Bucks are 2-1 SU and 3-0 ATS when facing opponents from the Northwest division this season.
The Bucks have played well against some of the league’s best this season, as evidenced by their play against the Golden State Warriors. Milwaukee defeated the Warriors 108-95, giving the team its first loss of the season. The Bucks then went into Golden State and lost 121-112, but were in that game for a majority of the contest.
One thing that bodes well for the Bucks heading into this one is that PG Michael Carter-Williams (11.9 PPG, 5.2 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG) played well against Steph Curry in those contests. He averaged 20.5 PPG and 3.0 SPG in those games and will need to play some similarly solid basketball against Russell Westbrook on Tuesday.
SG Khris Middleton (15.2 PPG, 3.5 APG, 3.4 RPG. 1.2 SPG) will also need to play well in this one. He has caught fire recently, scoring 20 or more points in three straight games heading into the meeting with Dallas. He had 15 against Dallas, but was 0-for-3 from the outside. If he can add a scoring punch on the perimeter then the Bucks should be able to hang with the Thunder in this one.
The Thunder won a high-scoring affair with the Nuggets on Sunday and PG Russell Westbrook was excellent in that game. Westbrook played 38 minutes and had 30 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds and a steal in the game. It followed up a meeting with the Bulls where he had 26 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals. Michael Carter-Williams has length, but Westbrook’s strength and athleticism should give him enough to have plenty of success on Tuesday.
SF Kevin Durant (26.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.3 BPG) has been no slouch for the Thunder lately either. He is averaging 27.5 PPG, 8.5 APG and 7.0 RPG over the past two contests and is 12-for-42 from the field in those games. He will need to continue to shoot the ball well moving forward for his team and that should not be a problem as long as he stays healthy.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
