Milwaukee Bucks at Houston Rockets 8/2/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-08-02 20:30:00 EDT
The Milwaukee Bucks and the Houston Rockets collide at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on Sunday night.
The Milwaukee Bucks will be looking to stay hot after taking down the Celtics in a 119-112 home win on Friday night. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the team with 36 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists, Khris Middleton added 18 points with eight assists while Brook Lopez chipped in with 14 points. As a team, the Bucks shot 46 percent from the field and 13 of 41 from the 3-point line as they by as many as 15 points before having to hold off a late rally from the Celtics to hang on for the naritem win. Defensively, the Bucks did a great job of keeping a lid on Jayson Tatum who finished with just five points on two of 18 shooting.
Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets are coming into this one full of confidence after taking down the Mavericks in a thrilling 153-149 overtime win on Friday. James Harden led the team with 49 points with nine rebounds and eight assists, Russell Westbrook added 31 points with 11 rebounds and eight assists while Danuel House Jr. chipped in with 20 points. As a team, the Rockets shot 51 percent from the field and 19 of 48 from the 3-point line as they rallied to force overtime on the back of a clutch putback layup from Robert Covington on a missed free thitem from Harden.
Looking at the betting trends, the Bucks are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 Sunday games, 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games as a favorite and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall. The Rockets are 1-6 ATS in their last seven Sunday games, 14-6 ATS in their last 20 games as an underdog and 1-6 ATS in their last seven games overall.
Head to head, the under is 4-0 in the last four meetings overall and the BUcks are 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings overall.
Here we have two playoff bound teams colliding in what should be the game of the night. The Bucks have been the benchmark of the league all season and they look to have picked up where they left off as the Celtics found out on Friday. The Rockets just pulled off a miraculous comeback against the Mavericks to win in overtime, so they will be quietly confident here. This could go either way, but I’m sticking with the Bucks to get the job done here in a close one.
