Milwaukee beat the Spurs on Saturday in Wisconsin, and the Bucks are favored to do it again when the teams complete a home-and-home Monday in San Antonio. Milwaukee has won five of the last six meetings, but the Spurs are 6-0-1 ATS in their last seven following a loss.
- Date/Time: January 6, 8:30 p.m. ET
- Arena: AT&T Center
- TV Coverage: Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports Wisconsin, Sportsnet 1
- Sportsbook Odds: Bucks -8 | O/U 229.5
- Bucks vs Spurs Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
After being the underdog in 19 consecutive trips to San Antonio (including 18 times by 7 points or more), the Bucks are laying points in their second straight visit. Milwaukee’s been a cash cow in this point spread role this season, going 7-2 ATS in its last nine when favored by 7.5 to 9.5 points. However, early action has been on San Antonio, betting the Spurs down to +7 as of Sunday evening.
Milwaukee News & Notes
After nearly losing to a sub-.500 opponent for the first time this season in their previous game, the Bucks looked more like their usual selves Saturday at home to the Spurs. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe combined to score 73 points — each of them scoring at least 20 — while Brook Lopez had 10 points and seven blocks to pace Milwaukee to a 127-118 victory.
San Antonio’s defensive strategy of sending Antetokounmpo to the foul line backfired as the Greek Freak, who entered the game shooting 60 percent from the charity stripe on the year, went 12-for-12 in the second half and 15-for-18 on the night.
Milwaukee, which edged an undermanned Timberwolves squad 106-104 on Wednesday, is now 23-0 on the year against teams with losing records. And while the Bucks failed to cover the spread Saturday for the second consecutive outing, Milwaukee is still the sixth-most profitable team to back in the NBA this season (21-16 ATS). The Bucks have covered the number in 13 of their last 18 overall, in five of their last six on the road and in 10 of their last 12 against opponents under .500.
San Antonio News & Notes
The Spurs rolled out a new-look starting backcourt Saturday as Derrick White filled in for the absent Dejounte Murray (personal) while sophomore guard Lonnie Walker IV made his first career start in place of Bryn Forbes. Murray is expected to return for Monday’s contest, but Walker is likely to get the start again after scoring eight points and providing energy on Saturday.
To pull off an upset in the rematch, however, the Spurs will need more from stars like DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge. DeRozan continued his recent hot scoring stretch Saturday with 26 points, the seventh straight game in which he’s cracked the 20-point plateau. But Aldridge essentially disappeared in the second half after potting 16 points in the Sportsbook 24 minutes, going scoreless the rest of the way and missing his last seven shots from the field.
San Antonio is 6-3-1 ATS in its last 10 games, but four of those point spread covers came on the road. At home, the Spurs are an ugly 5-14 ATS on the season, including a 2-3 ATS mark as home underdogs.
Betting Pick: Spurs +7
I expect the Spurs to be the more motivated squad as they look to avenge their loss in Milwaukee two days ago.
- The Spurs are 5-14 ATS in 19 home games.
- The Bucks are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games.
- The OVER is 5-1 in the Spurs’ last 6 home games.
