Odds Says Nets Have A Decent Chance To Dispatch Of Bucks
The Brooklyn Nets are aiming to do something they haven't done in a year -- win in Milwaukee. They lost both regular-season road games vs. the Bucks. They've lost both road playoff games.
Yet thanks to an otherworldly performance from Kevin Durant in Game 5 in Brooklyn, the Nets lead the Eastern Conference semifinal series, 3-2. (It didn't hurt that the Bucks totally collapsed after building a 16-point halftime lead.)
Anyway, the Nets are getting another shot to get over that hump and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals. No matter what happens next, it will be their final game of the season in Milwaukee. And what better way to end it than with a victory?
Of course, the Nets again have to try without star point guard Kyrie Irving, who will miss his second straight game with a sprained right ankle. It appeared to almost doom them in Game 5, a game that the Bucks should have won. But then ... KD happened.
As for the Bucks, you have to wonder if they're totally deflated. They had a golden opportunity to go up a game, come back home, and close the series. And they blew it. So they either are totally down and ready to mail it in, or they believe they can even this thing, go back to Brooklyn, and try to steal Game 7, remembering how close they came last time.
Odds are, it's the latter. But it's still a safer bet to take the Nets at +5.5. Truth is, even if the Bucks should win, they don't seem capable of beating the Nets by more than that.
As for the over-under of 219.5, this series has been totally unpredictable in terms of total point-production. But the Bucks have been better defensively in Milwaukee, so go ahead and take the under. If it works out that way, we will likely see a Game 7, and the Bucks getting a chance to do something they haven't done in a year -- win at Brooklyn.