The Toronto Raptors (66-28) and the Milwaukee Bucks (68-23) will meet for Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday, May 15th, 2019. The game will be televised on TNT with a scheduled tip-off time of 8:30 PM ET. Milwaukee and Toronto last met on January 31st in the Great White North where the Bucks would stage a 105-92 upset despite closing as a 2.5-point underdog. Milwaukee overall is 4-1 SU and ATS in the last five contests between both sides.
Toronto Raptors at Milwaukee Bucks Overview
Toronto Raptors
For Toronto, the Eastern Conference Semifinals came down to mere inches as Forward Kawhi Leonard punched the Raptors’ ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals by virtue a game-winning buzzer-beater bounced and trickled into the net on Sunday in Toronto in Game Seven. The final tally was 92-90 in a defensive game that saw the Raptors fail to cover as a 6.5-point favorite.
Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee will enter into this contest the better rested of the two sides as they have not been in action since last Wednesday when they defeated the Boston Celtics in Game Five to produce a “Gentleman’s Sweep”. Closing as an 8.5-point favorite, the Deer galloped onward to their fourth consecutive win and cover when they thrashed the C’s by a score of 116-91 to send them packing.
Reasons To Back Toronto
The Raptors have the intangibles that make them a potentially menacing match-up for the Bucks. Toronto turns the ball over less compared to their counterparts, and they have certainly shown their ability to play a robust and gritty form of defense. Forward Kawhi Leonard is by many accounts one of the best defensive players in the league, and he will draw the assignment of guarding one of the most explosive playmakers in the NBA, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokuonmpo. The Raptors were able to keep Philadelphia’s high-powered offense to under 100 points in five of the seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. That suggests there is a good chance that Toronto could throw Milwaukee’s game off and that provides value here given how we’ve seen Toronto go from a 6.5-point favorite to underdog in just one game (a 13-point swing).
Reasons To Avoid Milwaukee
Rest may actually be working against the Bucks here as the extensive rest may produce some rust for the Bucks who could be out of rhythm in Game One. When you combine this with the narrative that the Deer is in a position to be overvalued by virtue of their win and cover streak combined with their home court presence, takers backing Milwaukee are in a prime spot to fall prey to an overlay.
- Get more details: Toronto at Milwaukee NBA Match-up Stats
