Filip Tomic
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Two NBA championship contenders clash in Milwaukee tonight as we have an East meets West matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks. You can catch the game live from 8:00 pm ET on NBA TV, and I’ve prepared a Nuggets vs Bucks Same Game Parlay to spice things up a little as we all deal with the Super Bowl hangover. Make sure you also check out our individual game previews for tonight’s action on our NBA picks page.
Under 232.5 (-110)
Giannis Antetokounmpo to record 1+ blocks (-125)
Nikola Jokic over 8.5 assists (-120)
Same Game Parlay odds: +512
Under 232.5 (-110)
Although some metrics might indicate differently, there has been a visible improvement on the defensive end by the Milwaukee Bucks since Doc Rivers has taken over. In the last 7 games, the Bucks rank 10th in defensive rating and they haven’t been this high in that category through the entire season so far. The pace has also gone significantly down during this stretch, as they’re averaging 99.1 possessions per game, down from the 102.1 (4th-highest in the NBA) they average for the season.
Tonight’s game will give us a good idea of whether the Bucks are going in the right direction and holding the defending champs to a somewhat reasonable amount of points would be a massive morale boost for a team that’s won just 2 of 7 games. The Nuggets also like low-scoring games, as they’ve cashed the under in 9 of their last 11, including 4 of their last 5 on the road. For the season, they’re 10-17-1 on the O/U in road games. I expect that whoever comes out on top in this game will have to do it on the defensive end first and foremost.
Giannis Antetokounmpo to record 1+ blocks (-125)
Everything starts and ends with Giannis Antetokounmpo for the Milwaukee Bucks. The Greek Freak has been going at it on both ends over his last 10 games, averaging almost 1 block per game during that stretch. Milwaukee’s Achilles heel this season has been their defense on the interior, but they’ve been able to shut down opponents from scoring down low in their last 3 games, allowing an average of just 42 points. A big reason for that has been the play of Giannis, who takes a lot of pride in playing both ends of the ball. Denver relies heavily on interior scoring to get their points on a nightly basis — they average 53.2 per game which ranks 6th-highest in the league. In the first meeting of the season, they scored 58 points from inside the paint which was the difference maker. Let’s hope Giannis can put an end to that and land our bet with a rejection here.
Nikola Jokic over 8.5 assists (-120)
Jokic is once again the frontrunner to win the MVP award, which would be his 3rd in 4 seasons. He just continues to amaze, putting up numbers that are unprecedented even for him. Right now the Joker is 12th in scoring, 4th in rebounds and 4th in assists, while also shooting the 13th-highest field goal percentage at 58.3%. There’s no doubt that he will be the focal point of the Bucks’ defense tonight, so perhaps it would be better if we backed him to get some assists instead of dominating the game by scoring.
He’s recorded at least 9 assists in 3 of his last 5 games, which is exactly what he’s averaging for the season. The Bucks are one of his favorite opponents to play and in the last 4 meetings he’s recorded double-digit assists while averaging 12.3 per game. If Milwaukee is successful at clogging the paint here, Jokic will have no other choice but to look for his shooters on the perimeter, and we all know Denver has plenty of those. Expect another dominant performance from the Serbian big man here.
Make sure you also check out our Timberwolves vs Clippers Same Game Parlay for tonight
