The Milwaukee Bucks (7-11) travel to San Antonio to play the Spurs (14-4) in a game that will likely be low scoring. The game gets underway at 8:30 pm ET on Wednesday, Dec. 2 and will air on FWi, FSW and C+D.
The Spurs lost a winnable game to the Bulls 92-89 on Monday. Kawhi Leonard finished with 25 points to lead the game. The Bucks, meanwhile, are coming off a 92-74 win over the Nuggets on Monday. Greg Monroe shot 8-for-11 and led in scoring with 18 points.
Leonard has been playing at a high level as of late for the Spurs, averaging 24.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.6 steals, 1.4 blocks, and 2.0 three-pointers over the last five games.
Half-court execution will be at a premium as the Spurs rank 27th in the league in possessions per game (95.9), while the Bucks are 28th (95.1).
The Spurs are a heavy 12-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 191 points. The Spurs enter the game with records of 14-4 Straight Up (SU) and 11-7 Against The Spread (ATS). They have a record of 6-2 SU and 5-3 ATS versus the Eastern Conference. The Spurs are an incredibly accurate shooting team with a .468 field-goal percentage, one of the highest marks in the NBA. San Antonio has the third-most assists in the NBA, averaging 24.6 per game. Turning to the defensive side, teams routinely struggle to score points against the Spurs, who allow a league-low 89.8 points per game. The Spurs have limited opponents’ efforts from beyond the arc, allowing 6.0 three-pointers made per game. Milwaukee has a habit of getting in foul trouble (24.0 fouls per game), so expect the Spurs to get a number of opportunities from the free throw line.
Across the court, the Bucks head into the game with records of 8-10 ATS and 7-11 SU. A large part of Milwaukee’s game is creating turnovers and turning them into points. They are scoring 20.9 points per game off turnovers, which ranks third in the league.
This is the first meeting of the season for the Spurs and the Bucks. The last time they played San Antonio came out on top, bringing its SU record to 9-1 over the Bucks in the last 10 games. Additionally, with a 7-3 record, the Spurs have the advantage ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – SA, ATS Winner – SA, O/U – Under
Notes
San Antonio is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of San Antonio’s last 7 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Antonio’s last 7 games at home.
San Antonio is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
San Antonio is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Milwaukee.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Antonio’s last 7 games when playing Milwaukee.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of San Antonio’s last 8 games when playing at home against Milwaukee.
San Antonio is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Milwaukee.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Milwaukee’s last 8 games when playing on the road against San Antonio.
On average, San Antonio scores 99.6 points per home game (ranked 19th). Milwaukee ranks 24th in points allowed per road game with 105.7.
In its last game, Milwaukee won by an 18-point margin. San Antonio is 4-0 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Milwaukee has a 2-5 record in blowouts.
The Bucks have a 6-2 record when they allow fewer than 100 points. The Spurs, however, have performed well when they score under 100 points, with a record of 8-3 in such matchups.
The Milwaukee Bucks have a subpar 1-9 record in games where they have allowed at least 100 points. The San Antonio Spurs are 6-1 when they hit the century mark.
The Spurs have the best defense in the NBA, with a defensive rating of 93.6. The Bucks have an offensive rating of 101.7 (ranked 16th).
San Antonio is among the top-ranked teams based on its average field goal percentage of 46.8% (ranked third). Milwaukee has not won a game this season when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage (0-7).
The San Antonio Spurs attempt 19.0 three pointers per game this season, while the Milwaukee Bucks attempt 19.0 per game. When they register 25 or more three point attempts in a game, San Antonio is undefeated (1-0) while Milwaukee is winless (0-3).
The San Antonio Spurs are among the best in the league with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.76 (ranked third). Ranking 13th, the Milwaukee Bucks have an A/TO of 1.54.
The Milwaukee Bucks are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league with just 38.6 per game. Ranked sixth, the San Antonio Spurs average 46.1 rebounds.
San Antonio is ranked second in defensive rebounds, while Milwaukee ranks 19th in offensive rebounds.
Though Milwaukee is one of the best in the league in forcing turnovers with opponents averaging a TOV% of 16.4% (ranked sixth), San Antonio has a superb 5-1 record SU when it has a TOV% of 16.4% or greater.
