Milwaukee Bucks Vs. Portland Trail Blazers: Predictions, Starting Lineups (1/31/24)
After obliterating the severely undermanned Philadelphia 76ers just 48 hours earlier, the Portland Trail Blazers will host another top team in the Eastern Conference: a fully healthy Milwaukee Bucks squad. Find our Milwaukee Bucks vs. Portland Trail Blazers predictions and best betting picks below!
Milwaukee Bucks Vs. Portland Trail Blazers Prediction
Recently signed head coach Doc Rivers had his Bucks’ debut spoiled on the road by Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, but they weren’t too far away from securing an impressive win away from home.
Despite sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks seemed to believe that former coach Adrian Griffin was not the long-term (or short-term) answer; it was one of the most unexpected head coach firings in history.
Now, Milwaukee has its second game with Rivers at the helm in Portland. The Bucks will have a clean bill of health, while the Blazers will miss Shaedon Sharpe, Robert Williams III, and Moses Brown due to injury. Can they squeak out a road win against a Portland squad that is fresh off a win?
Portland was the beneficiary of playing an utterly ravaged (by injury) Sixers team that was without three starters (De’Anthony Melton, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey), including their top two scorers (Embiid and Maxey.) The Blazers got to tee off on a Philly team that was led in scoring by Kelly Oubre Jr. Obviously, Anfernee Simons, Scoot Henderson, Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton, and Malcolm Brogdon had a substantial advantage!
However, that will absolutely not be the case with this Milwaukee team, which is healthy and excited to play the rest of their season under newly appointed head coach Doc Rivers. Not to mention, this is a homecoming for Damian Lillard; he will be playing in an arena (Moda Center) that he is all too familiar with. Advantage: Lillard.
Further, Milwaukee has been shooting the ball extremely well recently, knocking down over 41% of its three-point attempts in its past three games, which ranks fourth in the NBA in that span. This gives the Bucks an even bigger edge because defending the three-point line has been the one thing that Portland has actually done well this season, albeit at the expense of easy shots in and around the paint. Unfortunately, the Bucks space the floor too well and have too many three-point weapons.
Malik Beasley, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Pat Connaughton, Damian Lillard, Bobby Portis, and Jae Crowder can all knock down threes at a solid rate. Even if Portland is able to funnel the Bucks into the paint, it does not do nearly a good enough job of protecting the interior to feel like it can keep them from putting up a monstrous offensive outing. For goodness sake, the Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo. It will be a field day!
Milwaukee Bucks Vs. Portland Trail Blazers Prediction: Bucks -9.5 (-110)
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Milwaukee Bucks Vs. Portland Trail Blazers Best Odds
The Milwaukee Bucks are huge 9.5-point favorites against the Trail Blazers in Portland after dropping their first game (against Denver) with newly-signed head coach Doc Rivers at the helm. The Blazers are +360 to win their second straight home game after they decimated the shorthanded 76ers on Monday, while Milwaukee has Moneyline odds of -470 to win the game outright. The Over/Under for this matchup holds around 236.5 points, indicating an offensive-centric game from both teams.
Milwaukee Bucks Starting Lineup
PG: Damian Lillard
SG: Malik Beasley
SF: Khris Middleton
PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
C: Brook Lopez
Portland Trail Blazers Starting Lineup
PG: Malcolm Brogdon
SG: Anfernee Simons
SF: Jerami Grant
PF: Jabari Walker
C: Deandre Ayton
Milwaukee Bucks Vs. Portland Trail Blazers Injuries
The Milwaukee Bucks have a clean injury slate ahead of their Wednesday night non-conference matchup against Portland. Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers will miss three players for the game, including Moses Brown (shoulder), Robert Williams III (knee), and Shaedon Sharpe (thigh.) Keep an eye on the injury report, as this preview came out fairly early, and there could always be a late scratch from either team.
