The Milwaukee Bucks (27-38) play the visiting New Orleans Pelicans (24-40) at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The game gets underway at 7:30 pm ET on Saturday, Mar. 12 and will air on FWi and FSN.
The Bucks beat the Heat 114-108 on Wednesday. Giannis Antetokounmpo was the game’s high scorer with 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting. The Pelicans, meanwhile, are coming off a 121-114 loss to the Grizzlies on Friday. Ryan Anderson had a solid game, recording his eighth double-double of the season with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
Over the last five games, Antetokounmpo has been playing at a high level for the Bucks. During that stretch, he has averaged 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.6 blocks. On the other side, the Pelicans have been led by Jrue Holiday. He has been on a tear, averaging 25.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.6 steals, and 2.4 three-pointers in the same time frame.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Pelicans won the first game 116-99. Anthony Davis was a standout player in the game, producing 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists, one steal, four blocks, and one three-pointer.
The Bucks enter the game with records of 27-38 Straight Up (SU) and 32-31-2 Against The Spread (ATS). They have gone 27-38 SU and 32-31-2 ATS against teams from the Western Conference. Milwaukee has consistently been near the top of the league in terms of field goal percentage, currently ranking fifth in the league with a FG% of .463. Something to watch out for is if Milwaukee can force its opponents into turnovers and convert them into baskets. They’ve done an excellent job of that all year with an average of 19.0 points off turnovers per game.
On the other side, New Orleans has a SU record of 24-40 and an ATS record of 27-37. New Orleans has records of 24-40 SU and 27-37 ATS against the East.
The Pelicans’ win over Milwaukee in their last clash moved their SU record in the last 10 against Milwaukee to 9-1. Additionally, the Pelicans lead the matchup ATS with a record of 7-2-1.
Predictions: SU Winner – Mil
Notes
“Milwaukee is 10-5 SU in its last 15 games at home”.
“The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Milwaukee’s last 9 games at home”.
“Milwaukee is 2-7-1 ATS in its last 10 games when playing New Orleans”.
“Milwaukee is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing New Orleans”.
“The total has gone OVER in 4 of Milwaukee’s last 5 games when playing New Orleans”.
“Milwaukee is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against New Orleans”.
“Milwaukee is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against New Orleans”.
“The total has gone OVER in 7 of Milwaukee’s last 10 games when playing at home against New Orleans”.
“New Orleans is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Milwaukee”.
Milwaukee’s offense and New Orleans’ defense are well matched when it comes to scoring. Milwaukee scores 0.0 points per game (ranked zeroth). New Orleans allows 0.0 points per game, which is also ranked zeroth.
Milwaukee and New Orleans are well matched, ranking zeroth in points per home game and points allowed per away game respectively. Milwaukee scores an average of 0.0 points per home game, while New Orleans allows 0.0 points per away game on average.
The Milwaukee Bucks are 15-6 in games where they allow fewer than 100 points, while the New Orleans Pelicans are winless (0-29) when they don’t hit the century mark.
When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Bucks are just 12-32 this season. New Orleans is a winning 24-11 when it hits the century mark.
The Pelicans have a defensive rating of 107.1 (ranked 26th). The Bucks rank 23rd for their offensive rating of 102.7.
With 96.8 possessions and 1.027 points per possession, the Milwaukee Bucks perform worse on both metrics than the New Orleans Pelicans. New Orleans averages 99.4 possessions and 1.034 points per possession.
Milwaukee has an average effective field goal percentage of 49.7%. New Orleans is a poor 14-27 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, the Milwaukee Bucks attempt 15.0 three point field goals per game and the New Orleans Pelicans attempt 24.0 per game. In games where they attempt at least 25 threes, both teams have poor records; New Orleans is 11-18 while Milwaukee is winless (0-3).
Milwaukee has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.56 this season (ranked 17th). New Orleans ranks higher with an A/TO of 1.71 (ranked 10th).
The Milwaukee Bucks are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league with just 42.0 per game. The New Orleans Pelicans average 42.6 rebounds (ranked 23rd).
The New Orleans Pelicans rank 24th in offensive rebounding, while the Milwaukee Bucks rank 29th in defensive rebounding.
Milwaukee is one of the top teams in forced turnovers, with opponents averaging a TOV% of 15.4% (ranked seventh). New Orleans has a losing record of 5-10 SU this season when its TOV% reaches 15.4% or greater.
