TOR @ MIL Game 5

Series Tied 2-2

Time: 7:30 PM CT (TNT)

Spread: MIL -7.5

Total: 214.5

Odds c/o 5dimes

The home team has won every game in this series. After pushing ahead 2-0, the Milwaukee Bucks dropped both games In Toronto to head back to Milwaukee with a tied series. Without hyperboles, the importance of game 5 cannot be ignored: The winner of it puts the opposing team’s back to the wall and facing elimination.

NBA oddsmakers expect that winner to be the home team again, favoring the Bucks by 7.5 points in a game that will tip-off at 7:30 PM (CT) on ESPN. The betting total is 214.5 points.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this series is that no one game has been decided by fewer than six points. The Raptors won Gm. 4 in convincing fashion, running away with a 120-102 victory and highlighting how energy-deficient the Bucks really were in a  tough road game at the Air Canada Center. Despite playing through injury, Kawhi Leonard still had 19 points on 6 of 13 shooting.

But the real hero was often-disappearing Kyle Lowry.

The All-Star point guard had 25 points on 6 of 11 shooting while hitting 10 of 10 from the line, dishing out six assists and snagging five rebounds. Marc Gasol also had one of his finer games of this postseason, scoring 17 points and dishing out seven assists, while also continuing his superb defensive efforts in holding Bucks 5-man Brook Lopez to just eight points on five field goal attempts.

For the Bucks, Khris Middleton had a huge Game 4 in the loss. He connected on a highly-efficient 11 of 15 from the field en route to a game-high 30 points. Middleton added seven assists and six rebounds, though he finished -17 for his 36 minutes of court time. The Bucks really fell apart mostly in the second quarter after trailing by just one after the first quarter. Milwaukee struggled with Giannis Antetokounmpo resting, losing the second quarter 33-24 and never finding the means to make up that deficit. \

The Bucks will need a bigger game from Eric Bledsoe in Game 5. He shot just 2 of 7 from the field in Game 4, finishing with five points in 20 minutes. Bledsoe made the First All-Defensive team and is a key performer, but both he and Malcolm Brogdon have been inconsistent in this series. If both can show up, the Bucks should be able to manage to take the 3-2 series lead with a ‘W.’ Milwaukee cannot rely on Giannis and Middleton to do “everything.”

ATS TRENDS (C/o Covers):