The Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks meet Thursday in preseason NBA action at the Etihad Arena. The Milwaukee Bucks have lost 8 of their last 9 preseason games. The Atlanta Hawks have split their last 8 preseason games.
The Milwaukee Bucks are averaging 102 points on 43 percent shooting and allowing 107 points on 49.4 percent shooting. Jordan Nwora is averaging 21 points and 8 rebounds, while Grayson Allen is averaging 15 points and 5 rebounds. Jrue Holiday is dishing 3 assists and Bobby Portis is grabbing 6 rebounds. The Milwaukee Bucks are shooting 35.1 percent from beyond the arc and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. The Milwaukee Bucks are allowing 35.7 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 50 rebounds per game.
The Atlanta Hawks won 43 games last year and enter the third season under coach Nate McMillan. The Hawks hold onto their young talented nucleus of Trae Young, De’Andre Hunter and John Colins, but they added a key piece in shooting guard Dejounte Murray. An all star last year, Murray takes pressure off Young to do so much offensively and provides another scorer defenses have to worry about. Clint Capela is back as one of the better centers in the league, and Bogdan Bogdanovic is effective either in a starting role or off the bench. The Hawks have quality top end talent that makes them intriguing in the East, but the questionable depth is why nobody is bold enough to say they can win the conference. The Hawks are good, but time will tell just how good that actually is.
The Hawks are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Thursday games and 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall. The under is 10-2 in Bucks last 12 overall. The under is 5-0 in Hawks last 5 overall.
I'd expect both teams are going to play their stars in this spot, given that United Arab Emirates doesn't get NBA games much. It's a chance to show out for new faces. With that said, the Hawks have new faces they have to work in their rotation, while the Milwaukee Bucks are a well oiled machine that already has a game under its belt. I have to lay the chalk with the Bucks.
