Free NBA Pick: Rockets vs. Bucks NBA Odds
Looking for Houston Rockets vs. Milwaukee Bucks free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Rockets taking on the Bucks on Saturday, October 22, 2022 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Rockets-Bucks matchup.
2022 NBA Handicapping
(0-2) Houston Rockets vs. Milwaukee Bucks (1-0)
Date: Saturday, October 22
Time: 8:00 PM EST
Venue: Fiserv Forum
NBA Moneyline Odds: Rockets +615 | Bucks -1000 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: MIL -12.5
NBA Betting Total: 231
Saturday NBA features two teams on the opposite ends of the competitive spectrum. Milwaukee has legitimate title hopes—not to mention an MVP favorite hoping to steal the award back from a certain Joker—while the Rockets are one of maybe three or four teams legitimately tanking for Victor Wembanyama at the start of the new season.
Twenty games into the year…maybe 30, you’ll see The Race for Wemby really pick up. But at the start, only a small handful are shameless enough to dive right in.
The Bucks, even this early in the campaign, are a team seeking straight-up wins however they can get them. A 12.5-point spread is a lot to cover, but Milwaukee feels like a team ready to go for a knockout punch early.
Houston Rockets
Entering this game, the Rockets are favored in just 14.6 percent of ESPN’s Matchup Predictor simulations. We won’t spotlight that number every night, but there’s a good chance it’s going to be that or even more depressing on a game-to-game basis.
That said, the Rockets are 4-1 against the spread in the last 5 head-to-head matchups against the Bucks. That likely has more to do with Houston’s lack of desire to win and oddsmakers not anticipating how quickly a team like Milwaukee gets ahead and takes its foot off the gas.
Houston won’t be gun shy in this one, which if they’re not playing efficiently could mean they’re destined to play from behind.
The Rockets are without TyTy Washington and Jae’Sean Tate.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks remain without Khris Middleton. That’s going to be a concern as long as he’s out, but the truth is that the the team is built to survive his absence—and the team’s schedule is set to help cushion the blow.
A matchup against Houston won’t be a concern with Middleton sidelined. Milwaukee is also without Pat Connaughton and Joe Ingles, but Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. will have plenty of fire power to make up the difference.
Antetokounmpo is coming off a season-opening performance that saw him go 9-of-16 from the field for 21 points while collecting 13 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks.
The Bucks didn’t win convincingly in their season opener, but a 90-88 victory over a Philadelphia 76ers team many see as a dark-horse contender speaks volumes.
Milwaukee won’t let this one against Houston get so dramatic.
NBA Betting Trends:
- Over is 6-1 in Rockets last 7 games following a straight up loss.
- Over is 4-0 in Rockets last 4 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Over is 5-0 in Bucks last 5 vs. a team with a losing straight up record.
Free Houston Rockets vs. Milwaukee Bucks NBA Prediction:
The Rockets have the potential to be a League Pass favorite this season, especially if Jabari Smith Jr. continues to use his slip from No. 1 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft to No. 2 as motivation. He, Kevin Porter, Jr. and Jalen Green have the potential to become a Big 3 in their own right even before the Rockets figure out how to turn their production into wins.
Those wins, though, won’t happen for a while. The Bucks are ready to contend now, and it will be games like Saturday’s that makes it clear they’re in another tier than the baby-faced Rockets of the league.
Bucks get the win, and they get it big.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Bucks -12.5
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