by James Q
Tuesday, Mar 14, 2023NBA Basketball: Milwaukee Bucks VS Phoenix Suns Pick and Predictions 03/14/2023
Game: 10:10 PM ET, Tuesday, March 14th, 2023
Venue: Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona
TV: NBA TV
Season Record
Bucks: 49-19, 1st place Eastern Conference
Suns: 37-31, 4th place Western Conference
Opening NBA odds at USA Sportsbooks
BetMGM: Point Spread: Bucks -1.5, O/U 232.5
PointsBet: Point Spread: Bucks -1.5, O/U 232.5
Fanduel: Point Spread: Bucks -1.5, O/U 232.5
Starting Five:
Bucks: PG Jrue Holiday, SG Grayson Allen, SF Khris Middelton, PF Giannis Antetokounmpo, C Brook Lopez
Suns: PG Chris Paul, SG Devin Booker, SF Josh Okogie, PF Torrey Craig, C Deandre Ayton
An NBA interconference battle of playoff teams. If this matchup took place last week it would have been fluxed into the TNT coverage and it would have been the game of the week! However.. Since the Suns are missing SF Kevin Durant… the drama is flat. Yes, The Milwaukee Bucks are in first place in the Eastern Conference and yes they are contenders to win it all. The Bucks get their dominance from one player and one player only.. And that is PF Giannis Antetokounmpo. They are deep but with him they are excellent. The phoenix Suns are a very similar team.. They have an all-NBA great at SF in Kevin Durant. Unfortunately Kevin hurt himself during warmups and will miss the rest of the regular season… That means that now the Suns are like the Bucks without Giannis… sure they are deep… sure they are talented… But they are not great and can’t handle a team that comes in with the best player in the world. The great betting opportunity here is in recognizing the spread at -1.5 is actually a very small spread in a much larger mismatch.
The Milwaukee Bucks have won 8 of their last 10 games. Their last win came against the very good Sacramento Kings 133-124. In that win the Bucks got 46 points & 12 rebounds from PF Giannis… it was his return from missing a couple games to injury. They also got 31 points & 9 assists from SF Khris Middleton… who is exactly the guy who the Suns will struggle with since Kevin is out and Mikal Bridges left in the deal to get Kevin.
The Phoenix Suns have won 6 of their last 10 games but are on a 2-game losing streak. Good teams tend to beat the Suns without Kevin. They lost their last game 123-122 to the Golden State Warriors. In the loss they got 32 points from SG Devin Booker, 11 points & 11 assists from PG Chris Paul, and 27 points & 12 rebounds from C Deandre Ayton.. That is a major problem in a loss. That is 3 stars playing very well and having no impact… especially if the defense is going to give up 81 points to the other teams 3 stars.
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Milwaukee Bucks VS Phoenix Suns Prediction
Our prediction for Tuesday, March 14th is…. Bucks 123 - Suns 111
Bet on the Bucks. Giannis playing gets the win… Middleton playing gets the win by a bigger margin. They will both play.
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NBA Betting Trends
Phoenix is 4-1 ATS versus Milwaukee in Phoenix the last 3 seasons.
The Bucks are 34-17 ATS as a favorite this season.
The Bucks are 8-0 ATS when playing on back to back days this season.
Players To Watch
Bucks: SF Khris Middelton…. Khris is capable of very big scoring games. He had a bad game two games ago and immediately came back strong with 31 points and 9 assists in 34 minutes. When your second best scorer does that?... Your team tends to win with ease.
Suns: PG Chris Paul. Chris is a legend. His career however has been rather tragic. He has been in position for postseason glory multiple times… each time either he or one of his teammates have been sidelined with injury to ruin the run. This season Kevin Durant brought that postseason glory potential and immediately landed on the injured list.
COACH
Bucks: Mike “Buddy” Budenholzer
Suns: Monty “all class” Williams
James Q
About the Author:
James Q. has been involved with sports and gambling his entire life. A former division 1 scholarship basketball player, James understands sports (and especially basketball) inside-and-out. Following his basketball playing days, James parlayed his gambling skills into a semi-pro poker career. James resides in Los Angeles, and especially loves the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Rams, and Los Angeles Dodgers. And when he isn't betting on sports (and writing about it), James can be found performing stand-up comedy on the Sunset Strip.
