NBA Betting – New Orleans Pelicans at Milwaukee Bucks
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:40 am ESTPublished:
New Orleans Pelicans at Milwaukee Bucks (-1.5, 186 o/u)
Tonight’s matchup between the New Orleans Pelicans (34-29, 12-18 away) and Milwaukee Bucks (33-29, 18-11 home) is a microcosm of the disparity between the Eastern and Western Conferences. Despite having nearly identical records, the Bucks are sitting comfortably in sixth in the East, while the Pelicans are ninth in the West, one game back of a playoff spot. New Orleans – winners of seven of the last nine – will look to continue its post-season push tonight when it meets the Bucks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee (8:00 p.m. Eastern).
Milwaukee, which dealt leading scorer Brandon Knight at the trade deadline and brought in youngster Michael Carter-Williams to replace him, have been on a slide ever since. The Bucks have managed just two wins in their last eight games, and have been particularly bad against Western Conference teams, losing their last four in a row (to the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets, and Golden State Warriors). They did, however, manage to top the sliding Washing Wizards, 91-85, in their last outing on the strength of 30 points from Khris Middleton.
“We’re going through the process like any young team. We’re not going to win all 82. We have to learn from each game win or lose,”Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. “Being one of the youngest teams in the league, as players you have to learn. Sometimes, it’s learning through losing. Sometimes it’s learning through winning.”
New Orleans, also picked up a big win in its last game, topping Memphis 95-89 and getting 26 points from Tyreke Evans. The Pelicans are one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder in their quest for the eighth and final playoff seed in the Western Conference.
“I like the way that we’re coming back and never giving up,” Pelicans forward Quincy Pondexter said after Sunday’s win over the Grizzlies. “A lot of teams lay down when they got punched in the mouth like that, but we’re a resilient group.”
The Bucks are listed as 1.5-point favorites at home, and the game total is at 186 points. New Orleans has won eight of the last ten in the series, posting a 7-2-1 ATS record over that span.
(Photo credit: Keith Allison (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo may appear cropped.)
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
