NBA Playoff Preview -- Bucks-Raptors: Toronto Shakes Off Fatigue For Game 1

  • In Charles Jay
  • Wed, May 15th, 2019 12:13:31 pm
  • By Charles Jay - Exclusive to OSGA


The Milwaukee Bucks are the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and they will play host to the Toronto Raptors as they kick it off for a chance to go to the NBA Finals.


The Milwaukee Bucks had more wins than any team in the NBA this season. And they have all the metrics to back it up. Does this mean they are a worthy contender to dethrone the Golden State Warriors? They just might be, but first they have to get by the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference finals, which will begin with Game 1 on Wednesday night at 8:30 PM ET.

The site of the game is the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where the Bucks exercise their home court advantage, and TNT will televise. While that's happening, BetAnySports customers can put their wagers down while the contest is in progress, using the facilities provided through Live Betting Ultra.

This opening game will pose quite a challenge for the Raptors, who are only now just coming off their seven-game win over Philly in the conference semi-finals. But they hardly resemble the team that has failed in the playoffs in the recent past. They made a very important pickup when they acquired Marc Gasol, who handles the ball well, minimizes turnovers, shoots from the outside and serves as a defensive asset (indeed,a former Defensive Player of Year).

But obviously the most critical acquisition was Kawhi Leonard, also a Defensive Player of the Year, who is second among all playoff scorers at 31.8 points per game. The starting lineup Toronto is going to put on the floor has outscored its opponents by a collective 94 points this post-season. And they might strike at a potential Milwaukee weakness, as they create turnovers.

There are weaknesses on the Toronto side, however, that the Bucks might just be in a position to exploit. And then there is a fatigue factor involved here as well, as Milwaukee, coming off a pair of easy series wins over Detroit and Boston, has not suffered from a lot of wear and tear.

Milwaukee Toronto Free PickHere are the odds for Game 1 at BetAnySports - which you'll notice include reduced juice - as we continue this NBA playoff preview:

Milwaukee Bucks -6 (-108)
Toronto Raptors +6 (-102)

Over 217 points (-105)
Under 217 points (-105)

The Raptors have reduced their "Pace" level (their number of possessions per 48 minutes) during the playoffs, and you have to believe part of their game plan will be to slow down the Bucks in transition. Milwaukee has more fast break points than any other team in the post-season - 20.6 per game, in fact - and responsibility for controlling some of that has to fall into the hands of Leonard, as he deals with Giannis to a certain extent.

Maybe they'll be able to do it. Still, they will have to neutralize Milwaukee's inside game, as the Bucks are shooting 70.4% in the restricted area. The Brook Lopez-Marc Gasol battle should be pretty interesting.

What really got the Bucks where they are, however, has been defense. They are #1 in the league in that category, and that has triggered the NBA's best point differential. Eric Bledsoe has been a revelation; when he was on the floor in the series against Boston, the Celtics scored only 91.3 points per 100 possessions, which is dreadfully low.

Bledsoe was a pain in the neck for Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry to deal with in the four regular season meetings too; Lowry, who has been known to be hot-and-cold when shooting the ball, hit just one of his 20 attempts from three-point range.

Mike Budenholzer has made a lot of difference in his first season at the helm, as he's brought in a defensive culture. And everybody seems to fit into it. This is a team that guards form the inside out; they will collapse in the lane, protect the rim and pull down a lot of defensive rebounds.

They will also allow teams to take a lot of three-point shots. If Toronto can hit those shots, they can do some business. However, they haven't had a hot hand in these playoffs (32.7%). And in those four encounters with Milwaukee this season, they were just 27%.

The three-point game, plus the fact that the Bucks might just be the much fresher team, point us toward Milwaukee in this series opener.

If you want the best value any sportsbook can possibly give you, then check out reduced juice at BetAnySports, where they allow you to bypass the customary -110 on NBA playoff action.......... And remember, Live Betting Ultra keeps the action going, as you can place wagers as the contest is in progress...... Open up an account today, by making a deposit with you Visa card, through a person-to-person transfer (like Western Union or MoneyGram) or through Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that does not require a transaction fee!


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