NBA Thursday December 15th Bucks at Grizzlies Betting Preview
Second Place Teams Square Off
Milwaukee is riding high falling a 128-111 win over the Warriors on Tuesday, and now they’ll try to avoid a letdown on the road in the Bucks at Grizzlies betting matchup. Memphis has won six in a row, eight of their last nine, and are 12-2 at FedExForum this season.
The Bucks have covered the number in just one of their last seven road tilts (1-4-2) and are +2 point underdogs for Thursday night’s matchup. 65% of the betting public like the Grizzlies who have covered in five tilts during their current six game win streak.
Bucks Will Slip Up Time to Time
Every NBA team has their ups and downs over the course of a long season, but Milwaukee losing 97-92 in Houston on Sunday as a -10 point favorite was a real head-scratcher. The Bucks have also lost at home to the Lakers (133-129) as -8.5 favorites earlier this month and had a 118-113 loss to the Bulls in Milwaukee as -7.5 favorites at the end of November.
While Mike Budenholzer’s squad will have a mental snafu every now and then, they usually get up for the big games like this Bucks at Grizzlies betting matchup. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points to lead the win over the Warriors, Bobby Portis had 25 off the bench, and Khris Middleton had 20.
Milwaukee also had a big 106-105 win in Dallas last Friday behind 28 from Antetokounmpo. Despite that win over the Mavericks the Bucks have now been held to 110 points or less in four of their last six, and it will be hard to break that trend with Jrue Holiday out with an illness.
Grizzlies Getting Reinforcements
While Milwaukee will be without Holiday on Thursday, Memphis is clearing up their injury report with Ja Morant (thigh) and Steven Adams (ankle) both expected to return after missing Monday’s 128-103 win over Atlanta. Desmond Bane (toe) is likely out until January however.
The Grizzlies discovered some nice depth vs. the Hawks with Tyus Jones scoring 22 points to lead seven Memphis players in double figures. It’s obviously still nice to get Morant back though, especially as he recently posted a 26/13/11 triple-double vs the Pistons last Wednesday. It doesn’t hurt the Grizzlies’ chances that the Bucks are missing their best backcourt defender Holiday either.
The Grizzlies rarely have an answer for Antetokounmpo, as the Bucks star has posted a 27+ point double double in six straight meetings with Memphis. Although the Grizzlies’ defense ranks 6th in the NBA in efficiency, Milwaukee is second in that category behind Cleveland.
Free Bucks at Grizzlies Betting Pick
Memphis has lost two games at home this season and by a combined 7 points. Being at FedExForum gives the Grizzlies an edge here but is Memphis being just a -2 point favorite an indicator of a trap?
Memphis was just a -2.5 home favorite recently against the 1st place Pelicans and they ended up with a 21-point win. The Grizzlies have also toppled Eastern Conference foes Philadelphia (117-109) and Miami (101-93) in the past couple weeks so they get the nod here.
Free Pick: Grizzlies -2
