Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat Odds, Preview, and Prediction
Bucks vs. Heat Odds
| Bucks Odds | -6.5 |
| Heat Odds | +6.5 |
| Over/Under | 216.5 |
| Date | Wednesday, Dec. 8 |
| Time | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN |
On Wednesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat will battle at the FTX Arena. Entering play, Milwaukee has won 10 of their last 11 games overall, and nine consecutive contests when Giannis Antetokounmpo is in the lineup. Miami has lost four of their last five games, with each of those losses coming by nine points or more. The Heat could struggle once again this evening without Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo on the floor. Oddsmakers are anticipating a relatively easy win for the Bucks in this one, pricing Milwaukee as 6.5-point road favorites on the spread at online sportsbooks.
Let’s take a closer look at Bucks vs. Heat odds and picks.
Bucks (-6.5)
Per Cleaning the Glass, when Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton are on the floor together, Milwaukee ranks in the 99th percentile in offensive efficiency and the 98th percentile in defensive efficiency. Unquestionably, this is one of the most lethal big-threes in the NBA, even if it is not the sexiest combination of talent from a marketing perspective.
Despite being the defending NBA champions, the market is relatively low on this group right now. Part of this can be explained by the fact that Milwaukee struggled to begin the year with Holiday, Middleton, and Antetokounmpo each missing time. Nevertheless, the Bucks enter play tonight with the third best record in the NBA, even having dealt with absences from their stars. Over their last 11 games, only the Golden State Warriors have a better Net Rating, and only the Warriors are allowing fewer points per 100 possessions. Milwaukee also ranks 5th in offensive efficiency during that span. Simply, this is an elite roster. Bettors should expect a strong performance from the Bucks tonight on national television.
Heat (+6.5)
Since losing Bam Adebayo to injury, the Heat have only one win in four games, having lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers by 26 points, Milwaukee Bucks by 22 points, and the Memphis Grizzlies by 15 points. Their lone win in that span came against the Indiana Pacers, a team that just announced yesterday that they are entertaining trade offers on all of their best players as they look toward a rebuild. Jimmy Butler returned from injury to play against the Grizzlies, but he was largely ineffectual–totaling only 10 points on 30.8 percent shooting from the floor in the loss. He will return to the sidelines this evening as he continues to nurse a tail bone contusion.
Per Cleaning the Glass, when Adebayo and Butler are both off of the floor this season, the Heat rank in only the 47th percentile in offensive efficiency and the 71st percentile in defensive efficiency. Head Coach Erik Spoelstra will once again be without two of his top defenders as he tries to stop one of the best offenses in basketball. An overreliance on his shooters will hurt his defense even more. Prioritizing defense is likely to hurt Miami’s offense far too much to be able to keep up with Milwaukee. This is going to be a very difficult game for the Heat to win.
Pick and Prediction
Milwaukee is nearly unbeatable when Antetokounmpo, Middleton, and Holiday are on the floor together. Miami was blown out by the Bucks when these two teams met last Saturday. In the absence of Adebayo and Butler, the Heat simply do not have enough on either end of the court to compete at a high level against one of the most elite rosters in the NBA. Bettors should expect another relatively easy win for the Bucks in this one.
PICK: Bucks -6.5 (-110)
Image Credit: Imagn