NBA Betting Odds: Cavaliers vs Bucks Preview & Expert Analysis

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Stunning news in the NBA on Tuesday as the Milwaukee Bucks fired first-year coach Adrian Griffin despite having the second best record in the league – but there had been rumors of locker-room issues. The Bucks take the court for the first time under interim coach Joe Prunty on Wednesday vs. red-hot Cleveland. 2024 NBA Expert Analysis Cleveland vs Milwaukee | MyBookie Sportsbook NBA Week 14

How to Bet Cavaliers at Bucks NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Wednesday, 8 PM ET
Where: Fiserv Forum
TV: NBA League Pass
Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Bucks -6.5 (total 235.5)

Season Series

The teams have split two meetings in Cleveland and played there last Wednesday with the Cavs rolling 135-95. They held Milwaukee to 2 points in the first six minutes and a season-low for a game as the Bucks were without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Georges Niang made 13 of 14 shots and added a career-high 33 points — 20 in the first half — for the Cavs and Donovan Mitchell had 31 points. Damian Lillard led Milwaukee with 17 points on just 7 of 20 shooting. Khris Middleton had two points, going 1 of 10 from the field.

Why Bet on Cleveland Cavaliers?

The Cavs won their eighth straight game Monday, the longest active streak in the NBA, 126-99 in Orlando. Cleveland never trailed and led by 36 at one point. Merrill’s fifth 3-pointer gave them a 48-27 lead just three minutes into the second quarter.

Donovan Mitchell was terrific Monday with 25 points and 13 assists. Mitchell registered his first double-double since Dec. 16 against the Hawks. He has gotten his teammates more involved lately and has tallied six or more assists in six straight games. Monday’s game also marked the second time he’s had four steals in January. Mitchell is averaging 27.4 points on 46.5 percent shooting, 5.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.1 steals over 32.9 minutes per game in the New Year.

“He’s doing it consistently,” said Jarrett Allen. “We feel like we can give him the ball every single time and he’s going to make the shot. In my mind he hasn’t missed yet.”

Jarrett Allen recorded his 17th double-double of the season and franchise-record high 12th in a row with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Over those 12, he’s averaging 18.2 points on .656 FG% and 14.3 rebounds. Allen’s 12 straight double-doubles is the fifth-longest streak in the NBA this season and second-longest active behind 25 in a row from the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis. Allen is one rebound shy of 4,000 career.

With Sixth Man Caris LeVert missing a second straight game, Sam Merrill took advantage with 26 points in 31 minutes. All of Merrill’s field-goal attempts came from behind the arc, and he was responsible for eight of the Cavs’ 20 three-pointers in Monday’s win. It’s the second time he’s hit eight threes in a game, with the previous occurrence taking place Dec. 20 against the Jazz. Merrill has been a high-volume three-point shooter lately, and his 9.4 three-point attempts per game in January ranks sixth in the NBA in that span. He has made 36 triples since the turn of the new year, marking the 2nd-most 3-pointers made off the bench in the NBA this month.

The Cavs’ win streak is one short of the NBA’s longest this season (set by the Magic from Nov. 15-Dec. 1 and the Los Angeles Clippers from Dec. 2-20), and all of it has been accomplished without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, the team’s second- and third-leading scorers. Both are out injured.

In the eight-game run, the Cavs are outscoring their opponents 121.0-98.5 (+22.5 PPG) and have allowed under 100 points in five of the past seven games, including four in a row. The Cavs have trailed for just 35 seconds over their last 5 games and have tallied 3-straight wire-to-wire wins. A win against Milwaukee would mark the team’s longest winning streak since 13 in a row from Nov. 11-Dec. 6, 2017 (13-straight wins). Cleveland ranks 2nd in the NBA this season in opponent PPG (109.7).

Why Bet on Milwaukee Bucks?

Even though the Bucks are 30-13 and have won five of six, Coach Adrian Griffin was fired on Tuesday. The former Toronto Raptors assistant was hired by Milwaukee this offseason after the team’s upset loss to the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs cost Mike Budenholzer his job.

Despite Milwaukee’s record and historically good offense – and an MVP-caliber season in the works from Giannis Antetokounmpo – the team had struggled defensively since the beginning of the season. But some of that was losing Jrue Holiday in the Damian Lillard trade this offseason.

Joe Prunty, who was the Bucks interim coach for the final 37 regular-season games of the 2017-18 season when the team fired Jason Kidd, will assume those duties in the interim. But the Bucks reportedly are looking at Doc Rivers to fill it full-time.

“This was a difficult decision to make during the season,” Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. “We are working immediately toward hiring our next head coach. We thank coach Griffin for his hard work and contributions to the team.”

There was talk that Griffin was rubbing some guys the wrong way. In the preseason, there was a change on Griffin’s staff as top assistant Terry Stotts resigned following an incident at shootaround in which Griffin yelled at him to join a coaching huddle rather than speak with star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lillard. There was another reported incident during Milwaukee’s In-Season Tournament elimination loss to the Pacers in which Bobby Portis reportedly challenged Griffin in the locker room.

Antetokounmpo did sign off on this change and he’s playing fantastic basketball with four triple-doubles in January alone and six on the season, one shy of a career high. Giannis continues to average career highs in scoring (31.2 ppg, third in NBA), assists (6.1) and field-goal percentage (60.3) while ranking among league leaders with 11.5 rebounds per game.

Khris Middleton had one of his best games of the season in Monday’s 122-113 win over Detroit with 26 points. In his previous four outings, Middleton was held to single-digit points twice. Middleton passed Glenn Robinson (12,010) for third on the Bucks all-time scoring list. Brook Lopez had a second straight double-double vs. the Pistons, his first time this season with back-to-back double-doubles. He leads the league in total blocks with 125 and is second in blocks per game at 2.91.

Milwaukee is averaging 124.6 points per game, second in the NBA and a franchise record. The Bucks, along with this season’s Indiana Pacers, are the highest-scoring teams in the NBA since the 1981-81 Nuggets averaged 126.5 ppg.

Cavaliers vs Bucks Expert Prediction

Bucks 120, Cavs 115

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