There's an excellent NBA doubleheader on TNT Thursday night, with the first game a potential preview of the Eastern Conference Finals as the Boston Celtics visit the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee will have Damian Lillard available after he missed the team's last game. The Celtics are coming off an overtime win Wednesday and had to travel, so the books seem to believe they could rest Jayson Tatum and others as the Celtics are 4.5-point underdogs on the SportsLine consensus -- which would not be the case otherwise.
Boston played in a potential NBA Finals preview on Wednesday against Minnesota and won 127-120 in overtime. The Celtics were double-digit favorites because the Timeberwolves were without starting point guard Mike Conley and All-Star center and three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, so that the game even got to OT was a surprise.
Tatum was marvelous with 45 points in a heavy 42-minute workload as Boston improved to 18-0 at home. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White both played 43, while Jrue Holiday played 40 and Al Horford played 38.
It would be a shock if the 37-year-old Horford plays Thursday as he never plays both ends of a back-to-back. Tatum has been getting some of those games off as well, but not always. The NBA is going to be watching this closely because it's a national TV game, so the Celtics can't just rest all their key players if they're healthy and punt like they could have in previous seasons. But the team also won't want to risk injury, so it's a fine line. I'd expect Holiday to play simply because it's his return to Milwaukee.
Because the Celtics are playing for the second day in a row, their injury report is not out yet. Kristaps Porzingis got Wednesday off so he at least should be in the lineup tonight. Boston has been good this season in the back ends of back-to-backs at 4-2 ATS. Only Portland, Oklahoma City and Dallas have better cover rates in that scenario.
Milwaukee of course traded Holiday to Portland (which rerouted him to Boston) for Lillard this offseason, which has devastated the Bucks' defense. Holiday is one of NBA's top perimeter defenders and defense is generally optional for Lillard. The Bucks enter having lost four of five because they can't get stops, allowing 132 points in a shocking 16-point home defeat to Utah on Monday with Lillard sitting due to personal reasons. He's active and set at over/under 24.5 points.
Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded a triple-double on Monday with 25 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. All four of the Greek Freak's triple-doubles this season have come since the start of December, and he has two in the past five games. Antetokounmpo is +650 for another tonight. In five games this month, he's averaging a league-high 34.6 points on 60.4% shooting along with 14.0 rebounds and 7.8 assists. His points + rebounds + assists total tonight is a sky high 53.5.
Antetokounmpo could become the first player ever to average at least 30 points while shooting at least 60% from the field in a season. You may have thought Wilt Chamberlain did that, but in the three seasons he shot at least 60%, he averaged 24.1, 14.8 and 13.2 points – the latter two at the end of his career with the Lakers.
Boston won the lone meeting so far, 119-116 at home on Nov. 22. Tatum had 23 points with seven of the eight Celtics who played scoring at least 10. Antetokounmpo had 21 points, 13 rebounds and five assists and Lillard scored 27.
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