Game Time: 8:30 PM ET, Saturday, February 26th, 2022 

Venue:  Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Where to Watch:  ABC

DraftKings:  Spread: 

BetMGM:  Spread:  

VegasInsider:  Spread: 

WynnBet: Spread:  

Opening Lines:  Bucks -9.5

Nets: 31-29, 8th place Eastern Conference

Bucks: 36-24, 4th place Eastern Conference

An all out war in the Eastern Conference!  A battle to end all battles!  Win or go home… it all boils down to these two teams!! That is what everyone thought about the Eastern Conference and the Nets vs Bucks going into the season.  The Nets Durant, Harden, and Irving were billed as the best Big Three ever assembled… and we simply never saw them play together for any extended period of time.  To say that PG Kyrie Irving tore it all down with his flat-earthed selfishness is an understatement.  Following Irving’s deliberate absence from both the team and the league Harden followed Durant’s lead… and despite that they were now a Big Two with little to no quality bench players?  They did alright.  Then Durant went down with injury.  Harden looked around and decided this wasn’t for him if he was going to do all the work only to let Kyrie Irving show up at random road games and take credit for anything positive.  Harden bailed on the Nets.  The team now does not have Kevin Durant (he may not return this season at all), does not have James Harden (he plays for Philly now)... and must try to integrate the league’s two most thin-skinned and narcissistic players ever Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving.  Good luck Brooklyn… no wonder you have plunged to 8th place with no bottom in sight.   The Bucks won it all last season and brought everyone of any importance back… They suffered some injuries along the way to SG Donte DiVincenzo, SG Pat Connaughton, and C Brook Lopez.  To set things straight they added Mr Split Personality SG Grayson Allen.  That little psychopath has played well. So well in fact that the team traded SG Donte DiVincenzo to the Clippers for the underused Serge Ibaka.  All these struggles and Giannis Antetokounmpo still can’t be stopped.  Giannis will drag his team to wins if needed.  The Bucks are in 4th place.  They will be a force to reckon with in the Playoffs.  They will be a Finals contender… all they need is an absolute guarantee that Giannis will never get hurt ever to where he has to miss a few games in the postseason… If that were to happen, this crew would be yesterday’s news against any top ten team in the East.

The Brooklyn Nets have only won 2 of their last ten games.  They also only went 3-6-1 ATS.  With 6 Overs, 3 Unders, and 1 Push.  The Nets have the solution though!  They added Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and Ben Simmons from the Philadelphia 76ers.  One problem of course is that Seth Curry and Andre Drummond made themselves instantly available to play… yet the very well rested Ben Simmons is still not available to play… I get it!  If I were to sit home almost the entire first year of an NBA MAX CONTRACT extension… scrolling social media and not shooting 3-pointers… I might be a little nervous about my return to the court too.  I might want to get into shape first… I might want to find my way around the Brooklyn housing market… I might… wait what?... Inside sources say that he is scared to face Philly at Philly which is coming up March 10th… so after sitting out the entire season so far… and being the Centerpiece of a ginormous trade that has put two organizations, two GM’s and two head coaches directly in the sites of criticism from fans and the rest of the league… and possibly the unemployment line.  Instead of lacing up his shoes to join his squad… 6’10 Multipositional all-star Ben Simmons will take an extra couple of weeks to duck out of being booed.  He will join the Nets with only 4-5 weeks left in the season.  By then the team may be in a deep hole in the standings.  It will be fun to watch the Nets play a single elimination “play in” game with only Simmons available.  Who will shoot the ball?

The Milwaukee Bucks have only won 6 of their last 10 games.  That is not great for a contender to win it all… but they have had some ups and downs with injury.  The teams that beat them during that ten were Philly, Phoenix, and Denver (three teams with an MVP candidate) and Portland (everyone is entitled to a bad game).  They went 5-5 ATS, with 9 Overs and 1 unders.  The Over has been a safe bet with the Bucks lately… That’s because the offense seems to be getting better while the defense seems to be dipping.  The reason for this is that more and more Giannis is doing it all on both ends. SF Khris Middleton is playing great 19.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.3 apg, and 1.2 spg.  Sort of what he always does to help Giannis… not bad for a 2012 2nd round pick. PG JRue Holiday is playing great… also sort of what he always does to help Giannis.  They are a good team waiting for a string playoff run.  If any fault could be found it’s the Greek Freaks usage rate… Just as high as it has always been!  The whole point in having those two other guys is to take some of the load off of Giannis… not just to stand around and watch him.

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Brooklyn is 31-29 on the season, but 23-35-2 ATS.  They have logged 30 Overs, 29 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 18-13 in road games.  Ya know better on the road… cause not everybody plays at home.

Milwaukee is 35-24 on the season, but 26-34 ATS.  They have notched 30 Overs and 30 Unders.  They are 20-11 in home games.

The Nets are 12th in scoring with 110.7 ppg, 17th in rebounds with 44.7 per game, and 12th in AST/TO 1.8. 19th on defense with 111.1 ppg.  

The Bucks are 6th in scoring with 113.2 ppg, 3rd in rebounds with 46.5 per game, and 15th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7. They are 16th on defense while allowing 109.8 ppg… which is probably why trading for Simmons was so appealing.

Our prediction for Saturday, February 26th is….  Bucks 121 - Nets 99

The Nets will fall apart even harder before things get better.  With Kyrie Irving playing on the road he will have to get used to playing with new teammate SG Seth Curry.  And if they are on the court at the same time Curry is a very poor defender which will stress Irving out until and rob his offensive punch. 

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Brooklyn is 12 Over and 4 Under versus marginal winning teams this season.

Milwaukee is 12 Over and 3 Under versus poor foul-drawing teams this season.

Milwaukee is 5-1 ATS versus Brooklyn over the last 3 seasons.

Nets: PG Goran Dragic (condition) Prob ** SG Ben Simmons (conditioning, he is tired of being fully rested) Out ** SF Kevin Durant (knee) Out ** SG Joe Harris (ankle) Out 

Bucks:  SG Pat Connaughton (finger) Out ** C Brook Lopez (back) Out

Nets: SF Bruce Brown, PF James Johnson, C Andre Drummond, PG Patty Mills, SG Seth Curry

Bucks: SF Khris Middleton, PF Giannis Antetokounmpo, C Bobby Portis, SG Jordan Nwora, PG Jrue Holiday

Nets

Points: Kevin Durant 29.3

Assists: James Harden 10.2 (gone)

Rebounds: Andre Drummond 10.8

Steals: James Harden 1.3 (gone)

Blocks: LaMarcus Aldridge 1.1

Bucks

Points: Giannis 29.4

Assists: Jrue Holiday 6.6

Rebounds: Giannis 11.2

Steals: Jrue Holiday 1.5

Blocks: Brook Lopez 3.0

Nets: Steve Nash

Bucks: Mike Budenholzer