Washington at Milwaukee
Time: 7 PM CT (TNT)
Spread: MIL -3
Total: 212
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Milwaukee Bucks are 33-26 and seeded No. 6 in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks have won six of its past 10 overall, and are 19-11 at home where it hosts the Washington Wizards.
The Wizards have posted a 17-14 mark on the road this season and have won seven of its past 10. The Wizards are positioned No. 4 in the East and trail No. 3 Cleveland by just a half game in the standings.
MILWAUKEE
Milwaukee star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is having a season for the ages. He is averaging 27.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.44 steals and 1.31 blocks while posting a PER of 28.7. Antetokounmpo makes such an impact on both ends of the court, and the Bucks have some star power around him now to make a real run in the East. Eric Bledsoe was acquired for the cost of Greg Monroe, and the man sometimes called “mini LeBron” has thrived.
Bledsoe is averaging 2.11 steals and 0.6 blocks per game in addition to his 17.1 points and 4.5 assists. Khris Middleton is having another strong season with 20 points, five rebounds and four assists per game. Sophomore Malcolm Brogdon has not radically improved since his rookie season, but he has been very solid at least–and he is a strong defensive cog on the perimeter.
The Bucks have also been pleased with the progress of Thon Maker, who while not making a big statistical impact has shown some promising signs of becoming a major defensive player. Maker averages just 5.0 points and 3.4 boards per game, but he plays just 18 energetic minutes per night. The Bucks also have been getting some premier shooting from Tony Snell.
A lot of focus must be put on Jabari Parker, as well, who is seeing 18 minutes a night through his first five games. Parker is averaging 10.3 points and 3.9 rebounds, which adjusting to full-time minutes, works out to about 18 points per-36. He may be just fine. If Parker continues to progress, the Bucks may be the team every Eastern Conference team seeks to avoid drawing in the postseason.
WIZARDS NEWS & NOTES
The Wizards have won seven of its past 10 to improve to 35-25 on the season, but there is not much intrigue or mystery behind this team. It is still a team highly dependent on its backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal, and a team still bereft of depth on the bench, for the most part.
Wall and Beal really have done all that could be asked of a backcourt. Beal leads the team in scoring at 23.6 points per game and Wall is good for nearly 20 a night, in addition to his 9.2 assists, but Otto Porter is still falling short of expectations and?sophomore Kelly Oubre Jr. is not radically improved from his rookie season a year ago. The Wizards ultimately need to add another superstar to take any sort of monumental jump toward contention, and it may be that the team is able to make a play at DeMarcus Cousins to reunite him with his former Kentucky teammate Wall.
Outside of that, there is no reason to expect this team to do much more than be a “pretender” with the glaring holes in its roster, and the overwhelming mediocrity at 3 of the 5 positions on the court.
Former Orlando Magic player Marcin Gortat is a good center, and one of the best in the pick and roll, but Markieff Morris is an erratic head case and the Wiz’ bench is overall just poor. Another former Magic player, Jason Smith, has returned to earth some two years after his breakout season in Orlando, which now can be totally labeled a fluke, as he led the league in mid-range shooting that year.
The Wizards are still the Wizards, to be terse and dismissive of the team, once again.
