Every year, the start of the NBA season brings much excitement among the league’s players, teams and fans. The results of the previous year, whether good or bad, are out the window as a new 82-game campaign gets underway. New superstars can establish themselves and fantastic stories are woven and written over the next seven or so months. What also brings a different kind of excitement, though, is the NBA potential financial enrichment through gambling.
Perhaps the most out of all the major American sports leagues, the NBA has thoroughly embraced gambling under commissioner Adam Silver. In this vein, the most common preseason gambling ventures are the championship and award odds and the over/under markers for wins for each team, which is what I will discuss.
Heading into the 2019-20 season, the Milwaukee Bucks hold the highest over/under total in the NBA with a line of 57.5 wins over Philadelphia’s 54.5 and the 53.5 given to the Jazz, Clippers, and Rockets. On the other side reside projected strugglers in Cleveland (24.5) and Charlotte (23.5). Now, over/under is certainly not everything. Note the Bucks finished with 60 wins after being tabbed for just 46.5 last season, finishing as one of five teams in the league to eclipse predictions by ten or more wins.
So, how may the Bucks do against the over/under this year, and how can they reach it? Let’s take a look.
October 2019
Toughest opponents: @ Houston, @ Boston
While the Bucks only play four regular-season games in the season’s (technically) opening month, two of them are against premier teams in visiting Houston and Boston. Also, with Eric Bledsoe potentially not being at full strength due to a rib ailment suffered in the preseason, the Houston game may be particularly difficult. Games against teams like Cleveland (home) could balance the situation out, though.
October prediction: 3-1
Season record: 3-1
Pregame father/son time for @EBled2 🙏 pic.twitter.com/uKy9wfseEK
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) October 17, 2019
November 2019
Toughest opponents: @ LA Clippers, Utah 2x (Home, Road)
The season’s first full month brings a little bit of a mixture in terms of the quality of opponents. The above Clippers and Jazz matchups bookend a pair of showdowns with Chicago, followed by battles against the Thunder and Hawks. Add teams like the Trail Blazers in Milwaukee, and the Bucks could find the road in November tough to traverse. However, they should come out just fine if their road contests can result in victories.
November prediction: 11-5
Season record: 14-6
December 2019
Toughest opponents: LA Clippers, @ Philadelphia
Only about a month after facing one of the top contenders in the west in Los Angeles, the Clippers come to town on December 6th for a titanic matchup at the Fiserv Forum that is also Giannis bobblehead night. Then, less than three weeks later, they travel to the city of brotherly love to take on the 76ers in a Christmas clash. With eight out of their thirteen December games in Milwaukee, including matchups against Dallas and the Lakers, among others, Milwaukee could very well be flying high come the beginning of the New Year.
December prediction: 12-3
Season record: 26-9
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January/February 2019
Toughest opponents (Jan.): @ Portland, Denver
Toughest opponents (Feb.): Philadelphia 2x (both at home)
Heading into 2020, the Bucks enter one of the easier parts of their schedule in January and February. The four listed games are the only ones that I especially noticed. Plenty of games against southeast division opponents, the Washington and Charlottes of the world, certainly make this stretch a little bit easier on the surface. Still, the Bucks will have to keep their focus to make sure that they don’t fall off even the slightest bit.
January prediction: 10-3
February prediction: 9-2
Season record: 45-14
March/April 2019
Toughest opponents (March): @ Denver, Houston
Toughest opponents (April): @ Philadelphia, @ Brooklyn
The season winds down in the last two months with a lot of Atlantic and Central division matchups, with dates against Denver and Houston commingled in March. With any luck, the Bucks could wrap up a second straight 60-win season for the first time in a very long time and firmly assert themselves in the championship conversation.
March prediction: 10-5
April prediction: 6-2
Season record prediction: 61-21
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Final verdict: Bucks 1, Over/Under 0
Let’s see how the score turns out by the end of the season!
