It has been a tale of two different seasons for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks heading into their matchup in Milwaukee on Wednesday night. Oklahoma City (36-8) has won six of its last seven games. Milwaukee (18-24) has lost three of its last four and finds itself outside of play-in tournament position in the Eastern Conference.
Let’s dive into my Thunder vs. Bucks predictions.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Milwaukee Bucks odds
Money line: Thunder -400 / Bucks +320
Spread: Thunder -9.5 (-110) / Bucks +9.5 (-110)
Total: Over 226.5 (-110) / Under 226.5 (-110)
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Milwaukee Bucks best bet: Under 226.5 (-110)
This is not a good spot for the Bucks, especially when they need any kind of win in the worst way. Their recent struggles can be chalked up to an inept offense. Milwaukee has been limited to 106 points or fewer in four of its last five outings and has not surpassed 115 points since January 2. For the season, the Bucks are averaging only 112.4 points per game — third fewest in the Eastern Conference and fifth fewest in the NBA.
Part of the reason for that is their pace of play. They are 24th in the association in possessions per game (102.0). As a huge underdog against the best team in the league, Milwaukee will be content to play especially slow on Wednesday and shorten the game as much as possible. Moreover, the Bucks could be without Myles Turner (12.2 ppg); he is questionable because of an ankle injury. Turner can stretch the floor as a big man who can shoot, so his absence would be very detrimental against such a strong defensive team like OKC.
The Thunder have been putting the clamps down in a big way on defense. They have kept three of their last four opponents to no more than 104 points, including two under the 100-point mark during this stretch. It is worth noting that the under is 4-1 in the Bucks’ last five overall and 3-0 in the last three head-to-head between OKC and Milwaukee.
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