The Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks collide in the NBA season opener at the Fiserv Forum on Tuesday night.
The Brooklyn Nets will be eager to kick off their season with a win to quiet the doubters and all the noise surrounding the availability of Kyrie Irving who played just 54 games last season. The expectations for this season are plain and simple as it is championship or bust for what looks like the best roster in the league. The pressure will be on Kevin Durant and to deliver after coming up just short in the playoffs last season, but at least he should have more help this time around with quality additions in LaMarcus Aldridge and especially Patty Mills who should see plenty of minutes with Irving likely to miss his fair share of games. Lastly, James Harden shouldered the load for most of the last season until his hamstring injury took him out, so it’s hard to see anything but an NBA Finals appearance if they can stay healthy.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks might still be in party mode after taking down the Phoenix Suns to claim their first NBA championship since 1971. Giannis Antetokounmpo was obviously massive for the Bucks last season as he did so much on both ends of the floor for the entire season, but I’m expecting a slower start this time round as his left knee as he continues to rehab his left knee. The Bucks management stayed quiet during the offseason in terms of player moves and they lost one of their most underrated players in PJ Tucker, so a lot will fall on the shoulders of Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton who are coming off the experience of a successful Olympics gold medal campaign.
Looking at the betting trends, the Nets are 4-0 ATS in their last four games playing on three or more days rest and 13-4 ATS in their last 17 games overall. The Bucks are 5-0 ATS in their last five home games and 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven games playing on three or more days rest.
Head to head, the under is 7-1-1 in the last nine meetings overall, the Nets are 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings in Milwaukee and the Nets are 15-32-1 ATS in the last 48 meetings overall.
With Kyrie Irving unable to join the team while unvaccinated, the Nets will rely heavily on Durant and Harden to carry the offense early on in the season, but it’s not like they haven’t had experience in that given how few games they actually played as a complete lineup. The addition of Aldridge will surely prove helpful to the Nets in the playoffs, but I’m more excited about Mills who will likely see extra minutes until Irving returns. The Bucks will look more or less the same compared to last season, but I think they’re going to regret losing their defensive ace in Tucker. I'd be all over the Nets if they were at full strength, but with all their distractions, I'm sticking with the Bucks to get the job done at home behind a big game from Antetkounmpo.