Milwaukee Bucks (21-8) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (18-11)
December 19, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: New Orleans Pelicans +1.5; Over/Under: +224.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Milwaukee Bucks and the New Orleans Pelicans collide at the Smoothie King Center on Monday night.
The Milwaukee Bucks have been in great form as they’ve won nine of their last 12 games overall and they will be eager to stay hot after blowing past the Jazz in a 123-97 win on Saturday. Bobby Portis led the way with 22 points and 14 rebounds on nine of 16 shooting, Jrue Holiday added 21 points with eight assists while Brook Lopez and Marjon Beauchamp each scored 18 points. As a team, the Bucks shot 53 percent from the field and 18 of 38 from the 3-point line as they started well and took the early lead into halftime, before they pulled away with a 31-14 fourth quarter effort to make it look easy in the end.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans look to have cooled off from their seven-game win streak as they are now hoping to put a halt to a three-game skid after falling short to the Suns in a 118-114 road loss on Saturday. Zion Williamson led the way with 30 points and nine assists on 12 of 15 shooting, CJ McCollum added 27 points with eight assists while Jonas Valanciunas chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds. As a team, the Pelicans shot a healthy 58 percent from the field and 14 of 30 from the 3-point line as they dominated the first half to lead by as many as 24 points, but they took their foot off the gas and got run down in the second half where they leaked an unforgivable 72 points.
Looking at the betting trends, the Bucks are 0-3-1 ATS in their last four road games, 5-1-2 ATS in their last eight games against a team with a winning record and 2-8-2 ATS in their last 12 games following a win. The Pelicans are 4-1 ATS in their last five home games and 4-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record.
Head to head, the over is 25-9 in the last 34 meetings overall and the over is 6-1 in the last seven meetings in New Orleans.
The Bucks are going to be shorthanded once again as Khris Middleton has been ruled out, while the Pelicans will again be missing Larry Nance Jr and Brandon Ingram. The Bucks have yet to take their foot off the gas this season and they beat the Jazz by 26 points, while the Pelicans have gone off the boil recently and are coming into this one fresh off a bad loss to the Suns where they blew a 24-point lead. You can make an argument for either side here, but the Bucks are the team in better form and they’re almost at full strength, so I like them at the short line in this spot.
