The Milwaukee Bucks (51-30) meet the Cleveland Cavaliers (43-38) Sunday at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for both teams’ regular-season finales. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Bucks vs. Cavaliers odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
Milwaukee won the Central Division and can lock up the 2-seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs with a victory Sunday.
Cleveland is the 8-seed and clinches the 7-seed with a win against the Bucks and Brooklyn Nets loss. But, a loss for the Cavs means they could fall to the 9-seed if the Atlanta Hawks win their game.
The Cavs are 2-1 straight up (SU) and 3-0 against the spread (ATS) versus the Bucks this season, which includes two straight victories following an 8-game losing skid to Milwaukee.
Bucks at Cavaliers odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:10 a.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Bucks +300 (bet $100 to win $300) | Cavaliers -400 (bet $400 to win $100)
- Against the spread: Bucks +7.5 (-102) | Cavaliers -7.5 (-122)
- Over/Under: 223.5 (O: -112 | U: -108)
Bucks at Cavaliers key injuries
Bucks
- SG Grayson Allen (hip) out
- PF Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) doubtful
- C Brook Lopez (back) out
- SF Khris Middleton (wrist) doubtful
- PF Bobby Portis (shoulder) doubtful
Cavaliers
- C Jarrett Allen (finger) out
[tipico]
Bucks at Cavaliers odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Cavaliers 118, Bucks 109
Money line
PASS.
Cleveland should win easily since the Bucks (+300) are resting their starters, but the Cavaliers (-400) are out of my price range for a ML favorite in the NBA. Also, Cleveland lost outright as 8-point favorites against the Magic Tuesday.
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Against the spread
LEAN to the CAVALIERS -7.5 (-122) since this game means so much more to them, and the Bucks +7.5 (-102) is 4-8 ATS as road underdogs with a minus-5.6 ATS margin.
Furthermore, Cleveland should absolutely dominate the glass considering Milwaukee will be without its entire starting frontcourt.
However, I’m hesitant to get down on the Cavs because they are just 12-12-1 ATS as home favorites and Cleveland is just 2-8 ATS in the last 10 games.
Also, the Bucks have no pressure here so Milwaukee will probably chuck 3s. Any team can get hot behind the arc in the NBA. But, the Bucks are sixth in 3-point shooting percentage, and the Cavs are just 17th in defensive 3-point shooting.
Over/Under
LEAN OVER 223.5 (-112).
Milwaukee should push the pace and randomize this game by putting up a ton of transition 3s since the Bucks will be without their three best half-court scorers. Plus Cleveland’s defense ranks 25th in non-garbage time efficiency over the past two weeks, according to CleaningTheGlass.com.
On top of that, I’m assuming there’ll be more money on the Under 223.5 (-108) because of Milwaukee’s aforementioned absences combined with Cleveland’s 6-18-1 O/U record as home favorites.
For what it’s worth, my LEAN to the OVER 223.5 (-112) is my favorite wager in this game.
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