NBA Playoff Betting June 7 – Milwaukee Bucks at Brooklyn Nets

The road to the first NBA title in franchise history just got a little bumpier for the Brooklyn Nets with James Harden ruled out for Game 2 of the second-round playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Nets survived the opener, 115-107, with Harden leaving the game early with a hamstring problem. Other members of the Big Three stepped up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving helping offset a big game from Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo as the Nets drew first blood with their third straight payout improving to 5-1 ATS this postseason.

Milwaukee Bucks at Brooklyn Nets
Date and Time: Monday, June 7, 2021, 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Opening NBA Odds: Brooklyn -2, O/U 234.5
Bucks at Nets TV Coverage: TNT

Odds Analysis

The games and the spreads have all been tight in the four games the teams have played this season. Milwaukee captured the season series winning two of three games with all of them decided by a total of 11 points with each club winning on its home floor. The biggest spread came in the first meeting with the Bucks getting upset 125-123 as a 4-point favorite. The trend continued on Saturday with Brooklyn getting the home win and cover as a 3.5-point favorite. The Nets hit the board as a 2-point favorite for Game 2 and they’ve been good this postseason going 5-1 SU and ATS. The two highest scoring teams in the NBA during the regular season are lighting it up in the playoffs. However, facing large totals they’ve cashed the UNDER in each of the last three meetings. The total for Game 2 is currently the lowest in any of the games between the teams this season.

Milwaukee Bucks

Sweeping the Miami Heat in the first round may have been costly for the Bucks, who waited a week before starting the second-round series. There are no excuses, especially at this time of year, and the Bucks made none after dropping Game 1. Their usual crisp offense sputtered at times as they posted their lowest scoring total this postseason, but Antetokounmpo was his usual MVP self scoring 34 points with 11 rebounds. He was 2 of 5 from three-point range but the rest of the team struggled making just 4 of 25 from behind the arc. The Bucks will need more from Khris Middleton as the series progresses. The team’s second leading scorer finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds but was 6 of 23 from the floor missing all five three-point attempts.

While the offense struggled the Bucks played a solid game defensively, something they’ve done this postseason. They limited the Heat to 98 points per game during the first round and held the Nets to eight points below their playoff average. This is going to be a shootout, though, and the Bucks need to be more efficient with the basketball. I expect the offense to be there on Monday with the Bucks having to defend better in order to even the series. “We’ve got to guard defensively together, especially against this team,” Antetokounmpo said.

Brooklyn Nets

It’s not like the Nets haven’t played without Harden this season. He missed 18 straight games late in the season and they were still able to capture the No. 2 seed in the East with Durant, Irving and others stepping up. While Harden has already been ruled out for Monday’s game his time on the shelf could be longer depending on how he responds to treatment. “He has high hopes and he wants to be back ASAP. We want to protect James, too. We want to make sure he’s right,” Steve Nash said.

It was a testament to the Nets that they forged through Game 1 with Harden hitting the shelf in the first minute of play. “We try not to be too emotional out there but losing one of your leaders like that on the first play of the game we had to regroup for a couple of minutes and figure out what was next,” Durant said. Durant scored 29 points with 10 rebounds and Irving added 25 points and eight assists. And the acquisition of Blake Griffin looks good right now. Turning the clock back Griffin scored 18 points with 14 rebounds playing over 35 minutes. The Nets also got a boost from Mike James, who scored 12 points in over 30 minutes of run time after playing less than 10 minutes in the first-round series.

Bet Bucks at Nets at BookMaker.eu

Both of Milwaukee’s wins over the Nets this season came when Harden was out of the lineup and the Beard won’t suit up in Game 2 and possibly beyond. That leaves the door open for the Bucks and I don’t think they’ll play as poorly on offense as they did on Saturday. Middleton will pick up the pace and Giannis is a lot to handle, especially for a team that struggles to defend.

NBA Score Prediction: Bucks 121, Nets 115

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- Phil Simon, Gambling911.com