The Milwaukee Bucks will host a showdown against the Los Angeles Clippers at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Action begins at 8:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Dec. 9 and can be seen on PRI and FWi.
The Bucks enter this game hoping for similar success after barely hanging on to beat the Trail Blazers 90-88 on Monday. Greg Monroe was a key piece, recording his 11th double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Clippers, meanwhile, are coming off a 110-106 win against the Timberwolves on Monday. DeAndre Jordan claimed his 11th double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
The attacking Clippers offense may see plenty of chances from the free throw line in this one. They rank first in the league at getting to the stripe (free throw attempt rate of 37.3), while Milwaukee gets whistled quite a bit (giving up a 27th-ranked free throw attempt rate of 32.0).
The Clippers take on the Bucks as a five-point favorite. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 202 points. The Bucks come into this game 9-13 Straight Up (SU) and 10-12 Against The Spread (ATS). They have been successful ATS versus Western Conference opponents with a record of 3-2. It hasn’t translated into wins, however, as they have a record of 2-3 in those games. Milwaukee is one of the league’s top scoring teams off turnovers with an average of 19.2 points per game.
As for their opponent, the Clippers have 12-9 SU and 7-13-1 ATS records. The Clippers convert their shots at a high percentage, ranking fifth in the league at .458.
These two will be squaring off for the first time this season. In their previous head-to-head meeting, Los Angeles came out on top, bumping its SU record over the last 10 meetings to 7-3. The Bucks lead the matchup ATS with a record of 6-4.
Predictions: SU Winner – LAC, ATS Winner – Mil, O/U – Under
Notes
Milwaukee is 4-8 SU in its last 12 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Milwaukee’s last 6 games.
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Milwaukee’s last 14 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Milwaukee’s last 6 games at home.
Milwaukee is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home.
Milwaukee is 1-6 SU in their last 7 games when playing LA Clippers.
Milwaukee is 8-14-1 ATS in their last 23 games when playing LA Clippers.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Milwaukee’s last 6 games when playing at home against LA Clippers.
Milwaukee is 4-2 SU in their last 6 games when playing at home against LA Clippers.
Milwaukee ranks 29th in points per game with 95.5, while Los Angeles ranks 21st in points allowed with an average of 102.0 given up.
On average, Milwaukee scores 100.1 points per home game (ranked 18th). Los Angeles ranks 29th in points allowed per road game with 107.7.
In games where they allow fewer than 100 points, the Milwaukee Bucks are a solid 8-3. In games where they fail to hit triple digits, the Los Angeles Clippers have a losing record of 1-4.
When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Bucks are just 1-10 this season. Los Angeles is a winning 11-5 when it reaches the century mark.
The Bucks have an offensive rating of 100.1 (ranked 22nd). The Clippers rank 18th for their defensive rating of 102.7.
With 95.4 possessions and 1.001 points per possession, the Milwaukee Bucks perform worse on both metrics than the Los Angeles Clippers. Los Angeles averages 98.6 possessions and 1.045 points per possession.
The Los Angeles Clippers have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking seventh in the league with an EFF% of 50.5%. When their opponents record a similar or higher EFF%, the Milwaukee Bucks are winless with a 0-8 record.
On average, the Milwaukee Bucks make 23.0 assists per game and the Los Angeles Clippers make 22.1. Milwaukee is ranked sixth, while Los Angeles is ranked ninth.
The Milwaukee Bucks average 5.1 blocks per game for a rank of 14th. The Los Angeles Clippers rank higher (11th), earning 5.6 blocks each contest.
The Milwaukee Bucks rank 21st in offensive rebounding, while the Los Angeles Clippers rank 22nd in defensive rebounding.
On average, Los Angeles makes 7.0 steals per game. Milwaukee is an underachieving 5-12 when it allows at least 6 steals.
