Simulation Picks
Maximize Your Odds of Winning with SportsLine Model and Our Top-Rated Picks!
Maximize Your Odds of Winning with SportsLine Model and Our Top-Rated Picks!
Maximize Your Odds of Winning with SportsLine Model and Our Top-Rated Picks!
Understanding Public and Money
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Expert Picks
Everyone's convinced the Celtics have already won this series after what happened in Game 1, but I'm not nearly so sure. I don't expect the Bucks to shoot as poorly Tuesday night, nor do I expect the Celtics will make over 40% of their three again.
The Boston Celtics have flipped their perceived value in one game. After a regular season in which they played far below the standards of their talent, they showcased their depth in a Game 1 beatdown of the Bucks. Defensively, they’re doubling and tripling Giannis, and no one else could get going for Milwaukee. Look for that to change in Game 2 on Tuesday and for Boston’s synergy on offense to continue. Grab the Over.
This is the spot that the Bucks are supposed to bounce back after they were embarrassed at home in Game 1, and they still can with a straight-up win, but covering may be another story. Boston is now 4-1 ATS in its last five meetings and Game 1 was all about defense holding the Bucks to 34 percent shooting. It was bad Bucks shooting but they were forced into it. That's what a full-strength Celtics club does well and they've now won and covered their last six games overall. I'm on Boston taking the points.
It doesn’t get much more impressive than the Celtics’ 22-point win in Game 1. While they finished as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, they weren’t pushing to get one of the top seeds. This is a tough team with a great coach that has championship aspirations after injuries derailed their playoff run last year. Even if they don’t win Tuesday, I think this game is close, so I’ll take the points.
The Celtics may be a No. 4 seed, but they're playing like a No. 1, and have been for a while now that they're healthy and Gordon Hayward is contributing as expected. They won Game 1 handily and are still getting a good amount of points. Boston has won nine of 10 and covered in eight of those. Even though we'll see a much better performance from Milwaukee, I still took the points with a Boston team that has put it all together.
The Celtics had the Bucks' number during the regular season -- at least compared to most other teams. That didn't change during an impressive 22-point win at Fiserv Forum in Game 1. The Bucks should come out motivated not to fall down 0-2 in this series, but this is a lot of points to give a team that's hitting its stride and looked so good two days earlier. Boston covers with the points in nearly 70 percent of my simulations.