Well, I don’t think any of us saw this one coming. Sure, some people thought the Bucks might make the Eastern Conference Finals, even maybe the NBA Finals. But the Hawks? No way. Anyone outside of a die-hard Atlanta fan would’ve been completely full of crap if they said they saw this coming. In any case, here we are with a matchup of the Hawks and Bucks.
On Milwaukee’s side is experience and the best player in the series. They were in the Conference Finals only a few years ago and lost to the eventual champion, Toronto Raptors. Now, Giannis and co. are back after eliminating the injury ravaged Nets. (Side note, if you blame that series loss on Durant, you probably should stop evaluating basketball.) Middleton, to me, is always the X factor for the Bucks. You know what you’ll get from Giannis, but with him, he needs to be consistent and score in the 20s each game for them to win this series with ease.
For the Hawks, the majority of casual fans will think the team starts and stops with Trae Young. To a certain extent, that is understandable, but this team is actually really similar to the Bucks in that their role players really make a big difference. John Collins is a hustle guy that can score, Bogdan Bogdanovic is a strong shooter, and Danilo Gallinari still has a lot left in the tank, apparently. That doesn’t mention Capela who is a rim defender, or the ghost of Lou Williams who doesn’t score in bunches like he used to, but still can, or even Kevin Huerter who was the top scorer in Game 7 against the 76ers.
The Hawks and Bucks played three games this season with the Bucks winning two of three. The Bucks won both of their games by double digits, and the Hawks took their only game by seven points. In two of the three games, including the win, Bogdanovic was the high scorer for the Hawks. Not that it is much of a surprise, but Giannis was the high scorer for the Bucks in two of the three games. He only played 25 minutes during one of their wins. For the record, the Hawks went 1-2 against Philadelphia and 0-3 against New York in the regular season.
Currently, the line for the series is -480 for the Bucks. I think the Hawks shouldn’t get swept, but both teams come in having had to play seven games in the last series. I think the series go to the Bucks and they win in six games. There are a few ways to play this if you want to approach it the same way. You can go with correct score of Bucks winning 4-2 at +400 or the series going over 5.5 games at -118. Personally, I’m going for the value. I’ll take them to win in six (I believe it doesn’t go seven games). Wouldn’t be surprised to see it over in five though so proceed with caution.
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- David Troy
Follow BTB site contributor at @FuturePrez2024 on Twitter!