Milwaukee Bucks at Brooklyn Nets Game 1 Pick

Milwaukee Bucks (46-26 SU, 32-40 ATS) at Brooklyn Nets (48-24, 38-34), 6/5/21

When: 7:30 pm ET Saturday, June 5

Where: Barclays Center

TV: TNT

Point spread: Mil +4/Brook -4

Total: 239

The two highest-scoring teams in the Association hook up as the Bucks and Nets open their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals series Saturday night in Brooklyn. Milwaukee averaged 120 points per game this season while the Nets averaged 119. But who’s going to play defense? Here’s how we homeworked this game with our free NBA playoffs betting pick.

NBA Playoffs Betting Odds

The NBA playoffs betting market opened Brooklyn at -3.5 for this Game 1 over Milwaukee, with an over/under of 241. Early betting action then bumped the Nets to -4 and dipped that total to 239.

Those out there who think the Bucks might win this game outright could find a price of +160 on the Game 1 money line at SportsBeting.ag.

Brooklyn is also lined as a -200 favorite to win this series, with the Bucks getting +160 as the underdogs.

Bucks-Nets NBA Betting Preview

Milwaukee reached this Eastern Conference semifinals series by sweeping Miami in four games in a first-round series, finishing the Heat off with a 120-103 victory last Saturday. The Bucks needed overtime to win Game 1 of that series, then basically blew Miami out three times in a row.

Brooklyn, meanwhile, reached this semifinals series by beating Boston in five games in another first-round series, finishing the Celtics off with a 123-109 victory Tuesday night. The Nets won the first two games at home, let Boston win Game 3, then took Game 4 by 15 points and Game 5 by 14.

The Nets played that series with their entire Big 3 of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving and went 4-1 both SU and ATS. During the regular season, Brooklyn’s Big 3 played just eight games together but went 6-2 SU, 5-3 ATS. So on the season, the Nets are 10-3 SU, 9-4 ATS with Durant, Harden, and Irving.

Brooklyn played two games better than Milwaukee in the regular-season standings, 48-24 to 46-26, but the Bucks took the season series from the Nets two games to one. Brooklyn won the first meeting 125-123 without Irving; Milwaukee then took the second meeting 117-114 as the Nets played without Harden, and the Bucks won the third meeting one month ago 124-118 as Brooklyn again played without Harden.

Milwaukee was favored for all three of those games but only by four, 2.5, and three points. Now, the Bucks are dogs.

Also, the biggest lead either team had in any of those three games was 14 points.

Bucks-Nets NBA Playoffs Betting Trends

• The Bucks played 20-16 SU, 14-22 ATS on the road this season, but 2-0 both SU and ATS at Miami in that first-round series.
• The Nets played 28-8 SU, 19-17 ATS at home this season, and 3-0 both SU and ATS in that first-round series against Boston.
• The Bucks played 21-16 SU, 15-22 ATS against teams that made the playoffs this season.
• The Nets played 17-20 both SU and ATS against teams that made the playoffs this season.
• The Bucks played 0-4 ATS as underdogs this season.

Totals Report

Overs played 41-30 in Bucks games this season, which averaged 234 points.

Overs played 40-32 in Nets games this season, which averaged 233 points.

Unders played 2-1 in Bucks-Nets games this season, which averaged 240 total points against an average O/U of 242.

Free NBA Playoffs Pick

The Nets and their Big 3 looked great in the first round against Boston and are somewhat suddenly a very popular pick to click among “experts” and bettors alike. But we don’t like positive ink; it’s not good for the mind, and it can skew point spreads. Meanwhile, Milwaukee is kinda playing under the radar; the Bucks are not the No. 1 seed, like last year, and they’re not distracted by off-court happenings, like last year. On the court, it’s what Milwaukee does on defense and on the boards that should make the difference here. We’re backing the Bucks for our free NBA playoffs pick for Saturday. Bet this weekend’s NBA picks FREE by taking advantage of a 100% REAL CASH bonus on your first deposit of $100 to $300 at MyBookie Sportsbook! (Must use bonus code PREDICT100 to get the special bonuses credited to your betting account!)

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