The Milwaukee Bucks have been piling up points their last few games and travel to Boston to face an also potent Celtics offense. The Bucks are slight road favorites, but with Boston weak in the paint, could Milwaukee — and the OVER — be strong ATS plays Wednesday?
- Milwaukee Bucks vs Boston Celtics (Matchup Report)
- Date/Time: October 30, 7:30 p.m. ET
- TV Coverage: Fox Sports Wisconsin, NBC Sports Boston
- Sportsbook Odds: Milwaukee -2 | O/U 222 (Line History)
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
With two of the premier clubs in the Eastern Conference playing, the spread opened with Milwaukee as a slight road favorite, a measure of respect to the team with the NBA’s best record last year. The total started at 222 points, as both teams have game-breaking offensive talents.
Milwaukee News & Notes
The Bucks have had an interesting start to the season, with a great comeback win at Houston, followed by blowing a huge fourth-quarter lead at home against Miami before topping the Cavaliers on Monday.
Their 2-1 start is predictably powered by MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who leads the team in averaging 24.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and nine assists per game. One area he does need to clean up, however, is the fact that he’s fouled out of two of his first three games — he can’t continue putting up big stats glued to the bench.
Another big contributor early on for the Bucks is free-agent signing Wesley Matthews. The veteran swingman was brought in to help fill the vacancy left by Malcolm Brogdon, and he’s responded by scoring exactly 14 points each game, while playing just under 30 minutes per game.
His strong early play allows the Bucks to keep a deep rotation, which will be needed against an equally deep Celtics squad.
Boston News & Notes
After a slow Celtics debut in which he scored 12 points on 4-for-18 shooting, Kemba Walker has shown the Boston faithful what he’s really capable of the last two games.
The explosive guard went for 22 points against Toronto and dropped 32 points, while shooting 64.7 percent from the floor, against the Knicks — both wins.
Walker is the early leading scorer for a Boston team that currently has four players averaging more than 16 points per game: he’s joined by Jayson Tatum (20.3), Jaylen Brown (17.3) and Gordon Hayward (16.3).
The Celtics have plenty of firepower, but they will be vulnerable in the frontcourt as center Enes Kanter will miss his third straight game with a left knee injury. Against a Milwaukee squad that is fourth in the league in team rebounding, Kanter’s absence could translate into extra second-chance points for the Bucks.
Betting Pick: OVER 222
Extra rebounds and easy points for the Bucks against an offensively deep Celtics squad. I think enough points get scored that the game goes OVER.
- The total has gone OVER in 8 of Milwaukee’s last 10 games in Boston.
- Boston is 3-10 ATS in its last 13 home games.
- Milwaukee is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games against Boston.
