The Milwaukee Bucks continue their historic season, now with a record of 49-8. They needed overtime to take care of the Washington Wizards on Monday night, and now they head across the border to take on the Toronto Raptors in a showdown of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. Toronto has a record of 42-15 and sits seven games behind Milwaukee in the conference standings. The Raptors have a two-game winning streak and have won nine of their last ten; Milwaukee has won three in a row and eight of their last ten. Can the Raptors beat the alpha dog in their conference at home? Or will Milwaukee make a statement about their domination, beating the second-best team in the conference on the second night of a road back-to-back? Let’s see how the NBA odds will be for the Bucks vs Raptors.
Bucks vs Raptors 2020 NBA Game Preview & Betting Odds
- When: Tuesday, February 25, 2020, 7:30 pm ET
- Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
- TV: TNT
- Radio: WTMJ 620 AM Milwaukee / CJCL 590 AM Toronto
- Live Stream: fuboTV
- NBA Odds: Milwaukee -1.5 / O/U 231
Why should you bet on Milwaukee?
Milwaukee’s newest winning streak includes a win in Detroit, a home victory over Philadelphia, and last night’s road win over Washington. The Wizards got 55 points out of Bradley Beal, who became the first player since Kobe Bryant to have two consecutive 50-point outings, but they still could not take down the Bucks — who had Giannis Antetokounmpo foul out.
It was Khris Middleton who was the hero late, scoring 40 points on the night, including a three-ball with 30.2 seconds left in overtime to stake the Bucks to a three-point lead. He had five straight misses in the waning minutes of regulation and the first minutes of overtime, but then he found his touch just in time. Antetokounmpo had 22 points and 14 rebounds but fouled out with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter. Washington erased a 17-point deficit and briefly led with 1:01 left in the fourth, but MIlwaukee scrambled back to force overtime. What will the Bucks have left in the tank for Toronto?
Why should you put your money on Toronto?
The Raptors lost in Brooklyn three games ago but have rebounded with a nice pair of home wins, taking down Phoenix by 17 and then Indiana by 46, the latter of the two wins coming on Sunday night. The Raptors had Monday off to prepare for the arrival of the Eastern Conference leaders. Their win over the Pacers came with Indiana’s Victor Oladipo on the bench, but it was still a significant rout.
In that win, Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 21 points. Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 11 assists. Serge Ibaka had a season best 15 boards to go along with 15 points. Toronto has now won nine straight at home and 17 times in their last 18 games. Toronto held Indiana to 81 points, the lowest total by a Raptor opponent in the 2019-20 season. The previous low had been 83 points in a Toronto win at Orlando. It didn’t help that Indiana went 0 for 9 to start the game, ending up on the wrong end of a 15-3 run to start the game, and that they did not score a basket for the game’s first 5:03. In the first period, Indiana shot just 4 for 23. It is unlikely that Milwaukee will make the same mistake.
Bucks vs Raptors Final Score Prediction
Given the amount of energy that Milwaukee had to expend in order to get that overtime win against Washington, it is hard to see them coming onto the court with enough energy to take down a motivated Toronto team. The Raptors have a ton of talent and are all healthy. While Milwaukee will put up a lot of points, I see the Raptors having the fresher legs down the stretch. I predict a final score of Toronto 128, Milwaukee 122.
