Milwaukee Bucks vs Portland Trail Blazers preview

The Milwaukee Bucks return home after an ugly loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in Philly to play their only home matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers. Milwaukee currently sits second in the NBA with an 11-4 record, however, in one of the early surprises this season, the Trail Blazers are not far behind at 10-6, matching the record of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who the Bucks played last Wednesday.

Portland is coming off back to back losses, both at home, one to the Brooklyn Nets on a last second tip in and one to another surprise team early this season, the Utah Jazz. The Bucks are looking to get back on track after their loss in Philadelphia and looking for a return to form by Giannis Antetokounmpo who has struggled shooting a bit since returning from knee soreness that held him out of a few games.

Milwaukee Bucks vs Portland Trail Blazers: Injury report

Thankfully there are no new names added to the injury report for the Milwaukee Bucks. However, there is one new omission, Pat Connaughton. Connaughton is off the Bucks injury report and looks poised to make his season debut Monday night after being listed as probable last Wednesday and then held out two more games.

It is interesting timing that the basketball stars align for Pat Connaughton to make his debut in his new home against his former team, Connaughton was drafted by the Nets and traded to the Trail Blazers where he spent his first three seasons in the NBA before signing with the Bucks.

Connaughton isn’t the only Milwaukee Buck with ties to Portland, Wesley Matthews also spent a large chunk of his early career with the Trail Blazers, unfortunately, Matthews will not be suiting up against his former team as he continues dealing with a right hamstring strain.

The only other names listed for the Bucks are Khris Middleton, who has returned to practice, and Joe Ingles, who we expect out until January. Meaning Jrue Holiday, who came off the bench Friday night, is also no longer listed.

For the Portland Trail Blazers the main missing piece is superstar Damian Lillard who was diagnosed with a leg strain and will miss the next week or two.

How to watch and stream the Milwaukee Bucks vs Portland Trail Blazers:

This Monday night matchup will be on Bally Sports Wisconsin. If you’re looking to stream this game you can do so with NBA League Pass or Bally Sports plus, the Bally sports streaming service.

Milwaukee Bucks vs Portland Trail Blazers: Betting

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Milwaukee Bucks are nine point favorites in this home matchup, the over/under for the two teams is set at 215.5. The money-line for the two teams sits at -375 for the Bucks and +300 for the Trail Blazers.

Milwaukee Bucks vs Portland Trail Blazers: Prediction

The Trail Blazers are coming off back to back home losses and now look to end their losing streak against one of the best teams in the league who are coming off a loss of their own, not to mention their superstar being potentially angry, not only at the incident after the game in Philadelphia but also at his own play not being to his personal standard. Giannis Antetokounmpo may be in for a massive game Monday night.

That said, in addition to their back to back losses, the loss of Damian Lillard hurts more. The oft injured superstar has gotten off to a pretty good start playing alongside new teammate Jerami Grant and budding star Anfernee Simons, Dame averaged 26.3 points, 7.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds before his injury. This injury will allow the Bucks to pay more defensive attention to Simons and Grant.

In addition to Giannis, the Bucks also have Jrue Holiday back to full strength and are getting some reinforcements on the perimeter with Pat Connaughton returning to the rotation, the Bucks are the healthiest they’ve been basically all season.

All these factors, combined with being in front of a home crowd, I expect a comfortable victory for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Score Prediction: Milwaukee Bucks: 118, Portland Trail Blazers: 103

Stay tuned for analysis on this game and more with the Milwaukee Bucks.