Hot Shooting Bucks in New Jersey to face the Nets
Milwaukee Bucks (24-27 SU, 29-20-2 ATS) at New Jersey Nets (21-27 SU, 25-23 ATS)
BetUS NBA Basketball Betting Odds: NEW JERSEY -4, Total 195
Here are some of the NBA betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* MIL has covered two of its last six games
* MIL has played four of its last five games UNDER the total * MIL has covered one of its last five road games
* MIL has lost four of its last five road games SU
* NJ has covered four of its last six games
* NJ has lost eight of its last ten games SU
* NJ has played five of its last six games UNDER the total
* NJ has covered five of its last 15 home games
* NJ has lost ten of its last 15 home games SU
* NJ has played six of its last nine home games UNDER the total
Also…
* NJ has covered the last five meetings
* NJ has won nine of the last 11 meetings SU * Four of the last six meetings have gone OVER the total
* NJ has won and covered the last five meetings in East Rutherford
* NJ has had the shooting edge in eight of the last ten meetings
* NJ has made more three-pointers in six of the last seven meetings
Milwaukee had a nice outing on Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks, shooting 52% and staving off Atlanta’s fourth-quarter rally to do so. Charles Villanueva scored 27 points in the game, and Richard Jefferson and Ramon Sessions had 20 points apiece. Sessions is filling in for Michael Redd, the team’s leading scorer, who is out with a torn ACL and MCL, so Milwaukee is looking for scoring punch from other places. Villanueva has averaged 27 points in his last three games.
On Tuesday night Jefferson, who was acquired from the Nets in a draft day trade, returns to the Izod Center for the first time as a member of the opposing team. Jefferson has been a pretty steady performer for Milwaukee, averaging 17 points on a team that has several small forward types. In a previous meeting with the Nets at the Bradley Center on January 9, he tallied 13 points and shot just three-of-15 from the field.
New Jersey showed signs of progress on Saturday, rallying from 17 points down to beat the Sixers. They largely did this without Vince Carter, who went out with an ankle injury. It was a great game for Brook Lopez, who had 24 points and 17 rebounds, with four blocked shots. His counterpart, Andrew Bogut, is just working his way back into the Milwaukee rotation, after missing eight games. Bogut has had 22 points and 14 rebounds in 32 minutes of play over the last couple of games.
The Bucks have some confidence after winning two in a row. Carter claims nothing will stop him from being in the lineup tonight, although that will probably be a decision made closer to game time. Jefferson badly wants to atone for the poor shooting performance against his former mates last time out. The Bucks broke a four-game losing streak to New Jersey with a win in their last meeting. And the Nets have covered just four of 12 as a home favorite. Let’s take the points with Milwaukee, the four-point underdog in the BetUS Sportsbook NBA basketball betting odds.
