The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks is facing one of the biggest conference rivals when the NBA season resumes after the All-Star break. Both teams do not stand as good as expected and will try to move towards the top of the conference.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks struggled with injuries in the first part of the season as Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday missed significant time and last season’s starting center Brook Lopez has played only one game this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo as usual took the team on his back and the Bucks are currently fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 36-24 record including 20-11 at home.
The good news for Milwaukee is that they are only 2.5 games behind the leading Miami Heat and with a win over the Brooklyn Nets, they will get very close to the top.
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Right before the All-Star break, Milwaukee got Serge Ibaka via trade, an experenced power forward who will be a great asset for the team when playoff time comes.
The Bucks went to the break losing 3 of the last 4 games including a loss to the last year’s runner-up, the Phoenix Suns.
In their last game, Milwaukee lost 123-120 at home to the Philadelphia 76ers despite Antetokounmpo’s fantastic performance of 32 points and 11 rebounds.
The Greek Freak is the Bucks leading scorer with 29.4 points per game which ranks him second in the league with only Joel Embiid ahead of him. Antetokounmpo also leads the team with 11.2 rebounds per game and with 6 assists is second behind Jrue Holiday.
The Bucks are ranked 5th in the league with 113.2 points per game and 16th with 109.8 allowed points per game.
Brooklyn Nets
Besides the Los Angeles Lakers, the Brooklyn Nets are the biggest disappointment this season as they are 8th in the Eastern Conference with a 31-28 record.
With Kevin Durant being injured for the past three weeks, the Nets lost 11-straight games which saw them falling from the top of the conference to the end of the playoff picture.
The Nets shook up the roster trading James Harden and Paul Millsap to the Sixers in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond.
Simmons has played his last game in July and is expected to return on the court at the beginning of March.
Curry and Drummond already made their presence felt as they led the team to back-to-back wins over Sacramento and New York.
Durant will not play against the Bucks but Kyrie Irving will be on the court since he is allowed to play only the road games because of his refusal to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Gordan Dragic was signed after being bought out from the Spurs and is expected to make his debut against the Bucks.
The Nets need to make things up in the final two months of the regular season but their playoff spot is not in jeopardy. Durant is the Nets’ leading scorer with 29.3 points per game followed by Irving with 24.1. The Nets average 110.8 points per game on both ends of the floor which ranks them 11th offensively and 19th defensively.
Conclusion
If healthy, these two teams will probably face each other in the Eastern Conference finals. Their last year’s playoff series was epic with the Nets literally inches away from victory. The Bucks survived a game seven on the road to advance and eventually win their first title in 50 years.
At the moment, the Bucks are the better team since they have played together for years while the Nets are constantly changing their roster.
The Bucks have won the previous two games this season and will do that again on Saturday evening.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is on another level compared to the others and without Kevin Durant, the Nets will stand no chance of winning.
Prediction: Milwaukee Bucks to win
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- Over 50,000 events per month
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Odds:
Bucks: TBA
Nets: TBA
Spread: TBA
Over/under: TBA