PREMIUM
Rogers' Friday Night FIGHT >> 27-17-1 Past 9 Days! +$4200 in NBA!
(NBA) Milwaukee vs. Orlando,
Point Spread: 3.50 | -110.00 Orlando (Home)
Result: Win
Point Spread: 3.50 | -110.00 Orlando (Home)
Result: Win
The set-up: The 20-21 Milwaukee Bucks are in Orlando tonight to take on the 17-27 Magic. The Bucks are celebrating the fact that Giannis Antetokounmpo was just named an Eastern Conference All-Star starter, while the Magic have lost nine of their past 11 games, as a season that started out with promise has quickly fallen apart.
Milwaukee: Antetokounmpo got a well-deserved starting spot for the All Star game. He scored 32 points with 11 rebounds, making 13 of 20 field goals, in the Bucks' 111-92 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. He's averaging 23.6 PPG (on 53.8 percent shooting) with 8.7 RPG and 5.6 APG (leads Milwaukee in all four categories). The Bucks' trouble has been that other than Jabari Parker (20.4 & 5.9), Antetokounmpo has had little help. Center Monroe (10.7 & 6.8) is doing a disappearing act so far this season and the team really misses Khris Middleton, who had surgery to repair a torn hamstring and is not expected to make his season debut until the middle of February (he led Milwaukee in scoring last yera at 18.4 PPG).
Orlando: The Magic now sit at 17-27 and are beginning to lose contact with the 'playoff pack.' First-year Orlando coach Frank Vogel preaches discipline on the defensive end and ball movement on the offensive end, but the players are not buying 100 percent into the system. "We don't play the right way," center Nikola Vucevic told the Orlando Sentinel after the Magic's 118-98 loss at New Orleans. "We can play as hard as we want -- as long as we keep playing like this, this is how it's going to be. It's hard for certain guys to keep giving effort when you don't do the right things out there. We take bad shots. We play selfish. It's embarrassing. We've been losing to everybody by 20. It's bad, man." Three of the last six games have fit the description from Vucevic, lifeless efforts where the Magic were blown out and beaten pretty handily.
The pick: Orlando was 1-5 on its just-completed six-game road trip, while allowing an average of 113.7 PPG but hopes a return home will help. The Magic open a three-game homestand on Friday against Milwaukee, who comes in on a three-game slide of its own. The Bucks have taken the first two meetings this season, including a 104-96 victory at Orlando on Nov. 27, but I expect a strong bounce-back from the Magic in this one. Orlando is an 8* play.
Milwaukee: Antetokounmpo got a well-deserved starting spot for the All Star game. He scored 32 points with 11 rebounds, making 13 of 20 field goals, in the Bucks' 111-92 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. He's averaging 23.6 PPG (on 53.8 percent shooting) with 8.7 RPG and 5.6 APG (leads Milwaukee in all four categories). The Bucks' trouble has been that other than Jabari Parker (20.4 & 5.9), Antetokounmpo has had little help. Center Monroe (10.7 & 6.8) is doing a disappearing act so far this season and the team really misses Khris Middleton, who had surgery to repair a torn hamstring and is not expected to make his season debut until the middle of February (he led Milwaukee in scoring last yera at 18.4 PPG).
Orlando: The Magic now sit at 17-27 and are beginning to lose contact with the 'playoff pack.' First-year Orlando coach Frank Vogel preaches discipline on the defensive end and ball movement on the offensive end, but the players are not buying 100 percent into the system. "We don't play the right way," center Nikola Vucevic told the Orlando Sentinel after the Magic's 118-98 loss at New Orleans. "We can play as hard as we want -- as long as we keep playing like this, this is how it's going to be. It's hard for certain guys to keep giving effort when you don't do the right things out there. We take bad shots. We play selfish. It's embarrassing. We've been losing to everybody by 20. It's bad, man." Three of the last six games have fit the description from Vucevic, lifeless efforts where the Magic were blown out and beaten pretty handily.
The pick: Orlando was 1-5 on its just-completed six-game road trip, while allowing an average of 113.7 PPG but hopes a return home will help. The Magic open a three-game homestand on Friday against Milwaukee, who comes in on a three-game slide of its own. The Bucks have taken the first two meetings this season, including a 104-96 victory at Orlando on Nov. 27, but I expect a strong bounce-back from the Magic in this one. Orlando is an 8* play.
