Atlanta Hawks at Milwaukee Bucks
Time: 8:35 PM ET, Jan 25, 2014
Spread: ATL -2.5
Betting odds courtesy of Bovada
The Milwaukee Bucks are owners of the league’s worst record thus far at 8-34 on the season and the team will host the 22-20 Atlanta Hawks in a game NBA oddsmakers are favoring the visiting Hawks by 2.5-points.
Milwaukee’s offense has been putrid this season. The Bucks average just 91.4 points per game and the team isn’t even good defensively to cover the lack of scoring, as the Bucks allow 100.4 points per game. The Bucks have some nice young talent, but desperately lacks scorers. The team let Monta Ellis walk in free agency and traded Brandon Jennings to Detroit, and the replacement backcourt of Brandon Knight and O.J. Mayo has been nowhere near as potent.
The Bucks young talent are not offensive-minded players: John Henson, Giannis Antekounmpo and Larry Sanders are all best as defenders at this point. The result is that this Bucks team is very much in the hunt to acquire Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker. While premier talent may not reside in Milwaukee for long, the Bucks are still hoping to build through the draft as it is the cheapest way to get the team back to relevancy again.
Atlanta has been every bit of the .500 team it always is, even after having lost All-Star Josh Smith as a free agent. Paul Millsap has proved a capable and very good replacement at the 4-spot, and Al Horford is solid and steady, The Hawks aren’t contenders by any means, but are certainly good enough to be spoilers in the playoffs.
Jeff Teague has quietly evolved into a very good NBA point guard and is averaging 16.2 points and 7.3 assists per game. The Hawks do lack depth, though, filling the second unit with the likes of Shelvin Mack, Cartier Martin and other D-League-type talents.
ATL Trends: 0-5 ATS in last 5 road games vs teams with losing records; 0-6 ATS in last 6 on 0 days rest; 0-4 ATS in last 4 vs teams with losing SU records.
MIL Trends: OVER 5-1 in last 6 Saturday games; OVER 4-1 in last 5 home games vs teams with losing road records; OVER 4-1 in last 5 home games vs teams with winning percentage under .400.
Head-to-head: OVER 4-0-1 in last 5 meeting in Milwaukee; OVER 19-6-1 in last 26 meetings; Hawks 6-2 ATS in last 8 meetings.
