The Milwaukee Bucks (4-6) travel to the “City of Brotherly Love” Tuesday to play the Philadelphia 76ers (8-3) at Wells Fargo Center with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Bucks vs. 76ers odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions, and bets.
Milwaukee has lost five of its past six games including two straight against the New York Knicks Friday (113-98) and at the Washington Wizards Sunday (101-94). The Bucks are 4-6 ATS and 2-8 O/U with the 20th-ranked net rating.
This is the second of back-to-back games for Philly with the first being a 103-96 loss Monday to the Knicks as a 2-point home underdog. The loss snapped a six-game win streak for the Sixers who are 7-4 ATS and 3-7-1 O/U with the fourth-best net rating.
The Bucks have beaten the Sixers in five straight meetings while going 4-1 ATS. Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 27.7 points, 15.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game with a plus-23 in the three Bucks-76ers regular-season meetings last year.
Bucks at 76ers odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:50 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Bucks -230 (bet $230 to win $100) | 76ers +180 (bet $100 to win $180)
- Against the spread (ATS): Bucks -5.5 (-112) | 76ers +5.5 (-108)
- Over/Under (O/U): 217.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Bucks at 76ers key injuries
Bucks
- SG Donte DiVincenzo (ankle) out
- C Brook Lopez (back) out
- SF Khris Middleton (health and safety protocols) out
76ers
- C Joel Embiid (health and safety protocols) out
- PG Ben Simmons (personal) out
- SF Tobias Harris (health and safety protocols) out
- SF Matisse Thybulle (health and safety protocols) out
- SG Danny Green (hamstring) questionable
Bucks at 76ers odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Bucks 111, 76ers 107
Money line
PASS with a slight “lean” to the 76ers (+180) because I like Philly plus the points and generally like to sprinkle on an underdog’s money line when betting them to cover.
However, I just cannot get there with this banged-up Sixers squad. Philly’s Doc Rivers is one of the best regular-season head coaches in the NBA and the Sixers have played surprisingly well given their injuries and off-court drama.
Against the spread
“LEAN” to the 76ERS +5.5 (-108) as more of a fade against a market and a Bucks team that shouldn’t be laying this many points against a well-coached Philly team. Roughly three-fourths of the bets placed are on Milwaukee according to Pregame.com.
However, there’s been a little “reverse line movement” in Philly’s direction as this game opened with the Bucks a 6-point favorite. It’s suspicious whenever you see sportsbooks make the more popular side cheaper.
Both teams are dealing with cluster injuries but the Sixers seem to be handling their situation much better. Philly’s recent win streak was snapped by the Knicks in a game much closer than the final score indicates.
On the other hand, Milwaukee has lost five of six games including four losses at home, two of which were to the Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs (both sub-.500 teams).
Over/Under
PASS with a slight “lean” to the Over 217.5 (-110) because nearly 90% of the action is on the Under according to Pregame.com, which is mostly based on the cluster injuries to both teams.
Philly has the best effective field goal shooting (eFG%) in the Association and I expect the Sixers to speed up the tempo to create open looks for 3-point specialists in transition. Milwaukee will certainly match Philly’s pace since the Bucks get out in transition at the highest frequency.
However, my predicted score is aligned too closely with the projected total that there’s no value in me betting the total.
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