NBA Basketball: Toronto Raptors VS Milwaukee Bucks Pick and Predictions 03/19/2023

Game: 8:10 PM ET,  Sunday, March 19th, 2023

Venue: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

TV:  NBA TV

Raptors: 35-36, 9th place Eastern Conference

Bucks: 50-20, 1st place Eastern Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread: Bucks -8.5, O/U 235.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Bucks -8, O/U 235

Fanduel: Point Spread:  Bucks -8, O/U 235

Raptors: PG Fred Van Vleet, SG OG Anunoby, SF Scottie Barnes, PF Pascal Siakam, C Jakob Poeltl

Bucks: PG Jrue Holiday, SG Grayson Allen, SF Khris Middelton, PF Giannis Antetolounmpo, C Brook Lopez

An Eastern Conference matchup as the late game on NBA TV.  On the surface this looks like a mismatch when #9 plays #1… but with an 8-9 point, point spread?...  this simple matchup becomes a real battle.  The Toronto Raptors Have a better roster than their record.  They have not won to the rate everyone expected.  As a result they are stuck in “no man’s land”, a place where they would need to win the NBA “Play-In Tournament” in order to secure a postseason spot… and they have lodged themselves too far away from the NBA Draft Lottery’s top prizes.  Still… with all-star Pascal Siakam, great 2nd year player Scottie Barnes, and a two-way SF on every GMs wishlist OG Anunoby.. They still have the potential for greatness.  The Milwaukee Bucks on the other hand are firmly in 1st place in the East.. and look every bit the part of possible NBA Champions.  They have the best player on the planet in PF Giannis Antetokounmpo… He is surrounded by quality NBA starters with a fair amount of depth coming off the bench. As great as the Bucks are and look?... They match-up poorly with the Raptors.  For a BIG Bucks win (-8.5) they would need a Giant game out of Giannis… because of the matchups at every other spot on the court.  The great betting opportunity here is found in the point spread.

The Toronto Raptors have won 5 of their last 10 games and are on a 3-game winning streak.  They went 6-4 ATS during that stretch.  They very recently blew out the Denver Nuggets who are in first place in the Western Conference.  The Raptors won their last game 122-107 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.  In that win they got 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists from C Pascal Siakam, 28 points & 7 assists from PG Fred Van Vleet, and 19 points from SG Gary Trent JR who was coming off the bench.  2nd year player Scottie Barnes has moved up to the starting SG spot to improve the defense… and the result is a 3-game winning streak.  Scottie has played PF, SF, SG, and PG at times this season… wherever he is put gets nice defense and solid contribution.  The Franchise is trying desperately to figure out who to trade in order to give Scottie a permanent unchanging starting spot… His best position is PG… But he can be placed anywhere.

The Milwaukee Bucks have won 7 of their last 10 games.  They are the cream of the crop in the East this season having passed the Celtics in the standings for first place when they were on a Jan-Fed 16 game winning streak. They went 6-4 ATS during the last 10 games.  They lost their last game to the Indiana Pacers 139-123. In that shocking loss Giannis had 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists, PG Jrue Holiday had 19 points & 11 assists, Bobby Portis and Khris Middleton had 16 points apiece.  Scoring was not a problem as they finished with 123 points… what they struggled with was stopping Indiana from piling up 139 points… Part of the problem was C Brook Lopez and SG Grayson Allen missing the game… causing multiple Bucks to slide into a different position.

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Our prediction for Sunday, March 19th is…. Bucks 119 - Raptors 118

Bet the Raptors… regardless of who you think will win the game.  8 points is a big spread especially with the Raptors on a roll and the Bucks softening as they try to maintain health for the offseason over playing time for the starters.  The Raptors will cover.

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The Raptors are 4-1 ATS versus Milwaukee in Milwaukee the last 3 seasons.

The Bucks are 21-9 ATS as a favorite of 3.5 to 9.5 points this season.

Raptors: SG Scottie Barnes.  Scottie is the Raptors PG of the future.. Big body, great court vision, and incredible defense.  The problem the Raptors have at the moment is they will have to try to find deals that return some compensation for Fred Van Vleet and/or Gary Trent JR.. and they will have to do it in a year where the draft will produce a record amount of star combo guards. In fact the whole league is piling up with quality guards in every team.  All the more reason to play Scottie there as soon as possible.

Bucks: SF Khris Middleton.  Khris is a great scorer.  He was injured most of the season and as he rejoined the team for more and more minutes… The Bucks saw immediate success.  Watching his health in every game is paramount.  The Bucks will sit him at any sign of soreness.

Raptors: Nick “remember my hat?” Nurse

Bucks: Mike “I don’t have a hat.” Budenholzer