It’s been just a little under a week since the Milwaukee Bucks stunned basketball fans around the world by snapping the Golden State Warriors’ 24-game win streak to start the season, and now we have the rematch between the two teams this coming Friday night.
The Warriors will have the benefit of playing round two of said contest on their own home court where they are virtually unstoppable. Meanwhile, the Bucks followed-up that monumental win over Golden State with some very deflating performances.
Can Milwaukee make lightning strike twice, or will the Dubs avenge last week’s loss with sheer brutality? Let’s take a closer look at this upcoming matchup below. After this, check out more of the NBA’s Friday night slate with our previews for Clippers vs. Spurs and Pistons vs. Bulls.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Milwaukee Bucks vs. Golden State Warriors Preview
Where: ORACLE Arena, Oakland
When: Friday, December 18, 10:30 PM ET
Line: Milwaukee Bucks (+19) at Golden State Warriors (-19); total: 211.0 – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Milwaukee Bucks (10-17)
[sc:NBA240banner ]Being the team that broke Golden State’s unparalleled run this season should’ve had head coach Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks on the highest of spirits. Instead, the Bucks are 0-2 on their current four-game West Coast road swing that began with an 18-point blowout loss to the lowly Lakers.
Much of the team’s woes can be attributed to the absence of Greg Monroe. Milwaukee’s big-name offseason acquisition and first option on offense hasn’t played a game during this road trip due to a sprained MCL in his left knee, and his team has suffered dearly without him.
Already without guards Greivis Vasquez (bone spur) and Jerryd Bayless (ankle), the Bucks’ other backcourt players have got to step up, especially since the team has no Monroe to stabilize the frontcourt.
Michael Carter-Williams and O.J. Mayo scored 17 points apiece in the team’s 103-90 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday, and both are more than capable of catching fire. Then again, this duo ultimately pales in comparison to the Splash Brothers of Golden State.
Plus, the Bucks’ excessive celebration in the wake of that upset of the Dubs had just stripped the (ball) club of any and all competitive drive during their current road trip. Making matters even worse, the team has actually lost its last 11 road games and only managed to cover the spread on three occasions during that slump.
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Betting on the Golden State Warriors (25-1)
With the first loss of the season out of the way, the Golden State Warriors can finally focus on the bigger goal at hand: repeating as the league’s champions.
The team has certainly played like the alpha dogs that they ought to be by winning 25 of its first 26 games of the season. Even that loss to the Bucks last week can be taken as a mere aberration, considering that Golden State *deep breath* was coming off a double-OT marathon against the Celtics on the first of a back-to-back before the finale of a seven-game road trip in Milwaukee. (Whew!)
The Warriors have overcome numerous close calls and climbed out of huge leads this season, so going up against the short-handed Bucks shouldn’t be much of a challenge. And the team even has great depth in its roster that even if Steph Curry (32 points per game on 52.1 percent shooting from the field) doesn’t set arenas ablaze, other Golden State players find ways to contribute.
In Wednesday’s 128-103 drubbing of the Suns, Curry’s fellow sharpshooter, Klay Thompson, was the one who took center stage instead. Thompson finished with 43 points on 8-of-13 shooting from downtown highlighted by a 27-point barrage in the third quarter.
And as if we still need to state the obvious, the Warriors have won all 10 of their previous contests held in ORACLE Arena. However, and in spite of the Dubs’ utter dominance throughout this season, the total went over only half of the time during that span, and the team went just 6-4 against some pretty daunting spreads from the oddsmakers.
Writer’s Prediction
The Warriors win in typical blowout fashion, but the Bucks hang in well enough to cover the nearly insurmountable (-19) odds working against the Bay Area juggernauts.
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