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Last night saw Vince and Graeme both grab wins. Vince had the over on the game and that went rather easily as the Blazers showed up big and nearly had this one. The Warriors asserted themselves in the final minutes and Andre Iguodala got a huge steal off Damian Lillard in the final seconds to get the 104-100 win. Graeme took that Blazers and the points so that also got the win. The Warriors continued their trend of winning games, but failing to cover the spread. They were one of the worst ATS teams of the regular season.
Tonight we have game two of the Bucks and Raptors as Milwaukee looks to take a 2-0 lead. Let’s get into today’s tips.
Graeme: Game 2 of the Bucks vs Raptors series promises to be an interesting one after the way Game 1 went.
The Raptors blew it. They had that game and it was theirs to lose and lose it they did. Not to take anything away from the Bucks – but they clearly didn’t bring their A game and this is one game that Toronto may look back on with mighty regret.
My concern is that this wakes the Bucks up. We saw what happened against the Celtics and this might be the slap in the face they needed.
Looking at all the potential outcomes, the one that stands out the most for me is an awake Bucks team much like in that Celtics series, and that they punish the Raptors.
https://www.Bovada.lvBucks -6.5
Vin: The first game of this series saw the Raptors with a red hot start that saw them grab a 34-23 at the end of the first quarter. The difference between this game and games the Raps played against the Sixers or the Bucks in game one against the Celtics, is that the Bucks never gave up. They kept chipping away at the lead and led every quarter in this game except for the first one. They exploded in the fourth with a 32-17 score to seal the win. A great win by a great team that is locked in right now.
All that said, the score is closer than it looks. The Bucks shot 0/11 in the third quarter on three-pointers. That is an outlier that fixed itself in the fourth quarter, but if they had shot slightly better in that third the narrative of this game changes. The Raps blow the lead much earlier and the Bucks grab control much earlier.
The big star of the game was Brook Lopez who had his best game of the playoffs by a mile. He had 29 points and 11 rebounds while Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka combined for just ten points. The Raps got so much out of Ibaka in that game seven and this game he was a dud. I think the big men are a key to the series for the Raptors making something of it.
This just feels like a defensive game to me. Even with all the threes falling and the great bench play from the Raps, the first game went way under. We’ve seen throughout the playoffs that the totals get lower as the series go on for the most part and that should continue tonight with two of the best defensive teams in the league.
https://www.Bovada.lvBet Raptors/Bucks Under 216.5
