Bucks minus 1 1/2 hosting Trail Blazers
The Bucks are a below-the-radar team at home with maybe the most versatile player in the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo. The guy is a top-10 fantasy player and he’s helped spark the Bucks into respectability.
Do you know which team ranks No. 1 in defensive field goal percentage and defensive 3-point percentage? It’s the Bucks. That’s an important key here because the Trail Blazers are heavily reliant on their perimeter shooting. Their top three scorers are guards Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and small forward Maurice Harkless. They’ve helped Portland rank among the top quarter teams in 3-points attempted and made.
If the Bucks didn’t blow a big lead to the Spurs at home two days ago in a 97-96 loss they would be riding a five-game winning streak. The Bucks are among the leaders in points in the paint. Portland gets very limited scoring from its big men. So the Bucks hold a frontcourt edge here and Antetokounmpo greatly reduces Portland’s backcourt advantage. Jabari Parker, the No. 2 overall pick from a couple of years ago, also has been elevating his game.
Portland has a losing road mark. The Trail Blazers lost during their past two visits to Milwaukee failing to cover in four of their last five road games to the Bucks. Milwaukee has covered eight of the last 10 overall games in the series.
Since Nov. 12, the Bucks have posted home victories against the Grizzlies when they still had Mike Conley, Magic, Nets and Cavaliers by an impressive 17 points. Their home losses during this span came to the Warriors by three points, Raptors by four and Spurs by one. The Trail Blazers aren’t in the class of the teams the Bucks lost to at home.
