The Toronto Raptors, who are +220 to win the Eastern Conference Finals, have clawed back from a 0-2 series deficit to tie the series at 2-2 against the Milwaukee Bucks (-300). Now, they will have to beat Milwaukee on the road this Thursday to get their first series lead. Will the Bucks buckle? Or will they stop Toronto’s renewed surge?
Betting on the Toronto Raptors (58-24 Regular Season)
Life is a whole lot better for the Raptors when Serge Ibaka plays like what they expect of Serge Ibaka. The big man finally had his first good game of the Eastern Conference Finals in Game 4, scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in 24 minutes of a 120-102 convincing win at home over the Bucks. Ibaka scored that many points in the first three games of the series, and now that he has come alive, Toronto is hoping that the veteran will sustain that kind of performance going forward – especially with Kawhi Leonard seemingly enduring an injury. Despite playing with a noticeable limp in Game 4, Leonard had 19 points and seven rebounds to go with four steals and two blocks in 34 minutes. Kyle Lowry also contributed a lot, finishing with a team-high 25 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. It’s important for Toronto to have its bench outplay Milwaukee’s just like in Game 4 in which the Raptors’ second unit got 18 and 13 points from Norman Powell and Fred VanVleet, respectively.
The under us 7-2-1 in Toronto’s last 10 road games.
Betting on the Milwaukee Bucks (60-22 Regular Season)
The Bucks are hoping that a home game will help stop their two-game skid. In Game 4, Milwaukee did not resemble the team that dominated the Raptors in the first two games of the series, especially on defense, as they allowed Toronto to have its way offensively. Still, there are some positive takeaways for the Bucks from their latest loss. For one, Khris Middleton continues to scorch hot from the field, leading his team with 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting. Giannis Antetokounmpo was also solid, with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe has to wake up though. The point guard only had five points in Game 4, and has not scored more than 11 points in a game so far in the series. The Bucks averaged just 107.0 points in the two games in Toronto, but should look forward to a better shooting night this Thursday, as they put up 116.5 points over Games 1 and 2. They also averaged 5.0 more rebounds at home than on the road in the series, so far.
The Bucks are 4-0 against the spread (ATS) in their last four home games.
