Portland Trail Blazers vs Milwaukee Bucks Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 31/01/2024, 07:02  by Kennedy Kechula | Modified on 31/01/2024 at 14:00 in NBA Prediction

The Milwaukee Bucks will be away to the Portland Trail Blazers in what will be Doc Rivers’ second game in charge. They come into the game as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference while the Blazers are second from bottom in the West. The Trail Blazers have seen a good few results in the last two weeks or so. Chauncey Billups’ men have won half of their last eight games and three of those victories have come against Eastern opposition. They have defeated the rampant Pacers as well as dominated the high-flying Sixers. The win over the Sixers, which came last time out, saw them win by 26 after tallying 130 points. Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey however didn’t feature in the game for Philly. Portland has so far compiled a 14-33 record and eight of their wins have come against East teams. Shaedon Sharpe and Moses Brown will continue to be sidelined while Robert Williams III is out for the season.

The Bucks are coming off a 113-107 defeat to the Nuggets in Denver. It was Doc Rivers’ first match since being appointed as head coach to replace Adrian Griffin. Though it was a loss, the Bucks showed much more grit, something that has lucked for them this season. It was their 15th loss of the campaign and left them 4.5 games below conference leaders Boston. The Bucks have won the last three meetings with Portland. They have also not lost at the Moda Centre since 2018. Damian Lillard was a Blazer then when the Bucks lost away in this matchup and scored 13 points. This will be a sentimental game for the guard as he is returning to Portland for the first time since joining the Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo is listed as ‘Questionable’ for this game due to illness. The Bucks are averaging 124 points a game which is the second-best record in the league.