The Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics meet Wednesday in NBA action at the TD Garden.
The Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Miami Heat in five games the last time we saw them play. The Bucks lost some of their depth from a year ago, but they added an all-star guard in Jrue Holiday, and it’s going to be interesting to see if he can be the missing piece to getting over the hump in the East. Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo shouldn’t take long to develop a nearly unstoppable pick and roll. Donte DiVincenzo needs to be prepared for an expanded role at shooting guard and guys like DJ Wilson and Bobby Portis have to prove they’re capable of being reliable back-ups with some of the rotation thinner than a few months ago. The Bucks are a little more top heavy than they were a year ago.
The Boston Celtics are coming off a conference finals trip where they lost to the Miami Heat in six games. The Celtics will look a little different with no more Gordon Hayward, but they’re pretty much the same roster outside of that subtraction. Kemba Walker will be sidelined due to a knee injury, and there’s a good chance he won’t be back until January. It’s going to be nice to see if Jayson Tatum can take another step toward becoming a superstar, while younger players such as Semi Ojeleye, Robert Williams and Carsen Edwards look to gain more consistent playing time. With Kemba sidelined for likely another month, it’s going to be critical other guys step up to prevent a slow start out of the gate.
The Bucks are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 road games and 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall. The Celtics are 16-5 ATS in their last 21 games as a home underdog and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games. The over is 5-2 in Bucks last 7 road games. The over is 4-0 in Celtics last 4 overall. The Bucks are 3-7 ATS in the last 10 meetings in Boston and 5-2 ATS in the last 7 meetings.
The Milwaukee Bucks were covering machines in the regular season, and they’ve won six of the last seven meetings against the Celtics. And while they’re still well coached and have depth, the Boston Celtics losing Hayward and being without Kemba does hurt them in the short term. With a healthy Bucks team along with the addition of Jrue, I have to lay the bucket with Milwaukee on the road.