Free NBA Pick: Bucks vs. Celtics NBA Odds
Looking for Milwaukee Bucks vs. Boston Celtics free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Nets taking on the Bucks on Sunday, May 15th, 2022 at TD Garden. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Bucks Celtics matchup.
2022 NBA Playoffs Handicapping Round 2
(3-3) Milwaukee Bucks vs. Boston Celtics (3-3)
Date: Sunday, May 15th
Time: 3:30 PM EST
Venue: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
NBA Moneyline Odds: Bucks +188 | Celtics -197 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: Celtics -5
NBA Betting Total: 206.5
The two words every NBA fan loves is “Game 7” and on Sunday, May 15th we’ll be treated to two such events.
Tipping off the day is the third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and second-seeded Boston Celtics playing to determine who’ll face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Milwaukee Bucks
Although Giannis Antetokounmpo has delivered in this series his massive double-double of 44 points and 20 rebounds along with six assists, a steal, and two blocks wasn’t enough to garner the Game 6 victory.
With only one day off since the teams last played certainly fatigue is going to play a factor, albeit the Greek Freak won’t make any excuses for why the Bucks weren’t able to win on their home court.
Instead, he’ll need to rely on his teammates to deliver similar to what Jrue Holiday and Bobby Portis did in the pivotal Game 5 win in Boston.
For as great as Holiday has played his prowess has been concentrated more on the defensive end in his efforts to slow Jaylen Brown and/or Jason Tatum.
In Game 6, Holiday was the only other starter to break double-digits scoring 17 points on 7 of 17 shooting and 3 of 10 from distance. The other player who registered double-figures was reserve Pat Connaughton with 14 points.
Khris Middleton suffered an MCL sprain in Game 2 of the first round but has begun working his way back to getting on the court and has progressed to contact.
He remains listed as out but it’s likely Mike Budenholzer wouldn’t update that report until 30 minutes before game time if Middleton miraculously became available.
Boston Celtics
With elimination on the table Celtics superstar, Jayson Tatum rose to the occasion serving up 46 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and a block.
One of the big differences in his production occurred on the perimeter where Tatum shot 7 of 15 following the three prior matches where he was 5 of 27.
Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart scored 22 and 21 points respectively as the only other Celtics to score in double-figures.
Two players who have factored in Celtics victories are Al Horford and Grant Williams but in Game 6 they combined for a mere four points on 1 of 9 shooting and have begun to show the wear and tear of defending Antetokounmpo.
Part of the reason why they are being taxed is due to the absence of Robert Williams who suffered swelling in his surgically repaired knee leading to him missing the last three games and he is questionable to play Sunday.
Sam Hauser (shoulder) is out indefinitely.
NBA Betting Trends:
- Milwaukee is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games.
- Boston is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games.
- The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Milwaukee’s last 11 games.
- The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Boston’s last 9 games.
- The Bucks are 8-18 ATS in their last 26 games as a road underdog.
- The Celtics are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite.
Free Milwaukee Bucks vs. Boston Celtics NBA Prediction:
Throughout this series, the perimeter has had a huge impact on the final score and was once again Friday as the Celtics hit 17 perimeter shots on 39.5 percent shooting (17-43) while the Bucks connected on just seven (7-29) shooting 24.1%.
Milwaukee won both the fast break (15-6) and points in the paint (48-34) scoring so the 10 extra 3-pointers were the key difference in the match.
The odds keepers believe Boston has the edge and gives them a strong nod with the five-point spread but remember the team who wins Game 5 goes on to win 82 percent of the time and that was the Bucks.
Holding the home court could be the deciding edge for the Celtics although they’ve lost two of three to the Bucks at TD Garden. Another factor that could come into play is who has the advantage in clutch time.
This season the Celtics played 35 games that entered clutch time (last five minutes – within five points) winning only 13 of those matches while the Bucks played 41 clutch matches winning 24 times.
However, in the postseason it’s the Celtics who’ve performed better in the clutch winning five of seven matches while Milwaukee is 3-2.
Seriously – flip a coin on this match because I can offer arguments for both sides with the Bucks championship pedigree versus the youthful Celtics defense.
Ultimately, it comes down to which superstar has the better performance coupled with which next two players step up. Assuming Tatum and Antetokounmpo cancel each other out then the focus shifts to Brown/Horford versus Holiday/Portis (or Lopez).
The last two series in the Bucks championship run required six games (Hawks/Suns) and Jrue Holiday was close to triple-double territory in both. Although I feel like the Celtics have more depth something in my gut says Holiday will be the x-factor in this deciding game.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Bucks +5
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