The Milwaukee Bucks (50-30) travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons (23-57) in a Friday night NBA affair.
Milwaukee earned a huge win over the Celtics on Thursday that propelled them in front of Boston for second place in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks enter play two games behind the East-leading Heat.
Detroit does not have a whole lot left to play for with the season winding down. But they could play the role of spoiler with an upset on Friday.
Detroit defeated Milwaukee in their last head-to-head matchup. But the Bucks still lead the season series 2-1.
Let’s take a look at the best NBA betting odds for this contest.
Bucks at Pistons Betting Stats
Looking at the Milwaukee Bucks Stats
The Bucks 127-121 win over the Celtics on Thursday holds enormous magnitude. The Bucks are now in sole possession of second place and even have an outside chance of catching up with Miami for the one-seed.
Jrue Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo shined on Thursday. Both stars scored 29 points, while Holiday had eight rebounds, eight assists, and three steals. Giannis grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out five assists.
Milwaukee capitalized on 15 Celtic turnovers in the win. The Bucks also won the rebound battle, which played a pivotal role in leading them to the victory.
The Bucks have a great opportunity to win their next two games to close out the season. Barring an unforeseen upset, they should be able to take care of business in Detroit on Friday. And then they will finish the regular season in Cleveland against a struggling Cavaliers squad.
In order to catch up with Miami, they would need the Heat to lose against the Hawks on Friday and then again on Sunday against the Magic. Yes, it is unlikely that the Heat will drop both of those games. But Orlando has pulled off some upsets earlier in the year, so it is not technically out of the realm of possibility.
Nonetheless, the Bucks will focus on at least retaining possession of the second spot in the East moving forward. And that begins by beating the Pistons in Detroit on Friday.
Looking at the Detroit Pistons’ Stats
On a high note, Detroit is out of the postseason picture and is just looking to end an otherwise difficult season.
There have been signs of promise for the future in Detroit. First overall pick Cade Cunningham is looking like a star in the making. Cunningham most recently scored 25 points while dishing out nine assists in the Piston’s loss against the Mavericks.
The young phenom is averaging over 17 points per game with over five assists and five rebounds per contest.
Jerami Grant is the team leader in points per game with a mark of 19.2. Other players such as Saddiq Bey and Marvin Bagley III have also demonstrated potential.
It is unclear when this Pistons team will realistically be able to compete. But they could potentially make a run within the next two years. For now, they will focus on pulling off the upset at home against Milwaukee on Friday night.
Bucks at Pistons Betting Trends
- Milwaukee is 38-42 ATS this season.
- Detroit is 44-34-2 ATS this year.
- The Pistons are 22-17-1 ATS at their home arena.
- The Bucks are 22-17 ATS on the road.
- Milwaukee is 31-32 ATS when playing as the favorite.
- Detroit is 41-30-2 ATS when playing as the underdog.
Bucks at Pistons Betting Prediction
The Bucks cannot afford to take this for granted. This is a young Pistons team that plays with a lot of energy and has nothing to lose. If Milwaukee comes in without that same energy, Detroit could pull off the shocking upset.
From a betting perspective, taking the Bucks is the correct choice. They are playing a quality brand of basketball as of late and just earned arguably their biggest win of the entire season.
But Detroit and Cade Cunningham will come out with intentions of making the Bucks work for everything in this affair.
Take the Bucks with your NBA betting picks selection.
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