Miami Heat vs Milwaukee Bucks Prediction, 5/22/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Miami Heat vs Milwaukee Bucks

Date: Saturday, May 22, 2021

Location: Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Miami (+5)

The Milwaukee Bucks (46-26) host the Miami Heat (40-32) at Fiserv Forum on Saturday in Game 1 of their series. Miami opens this matchup as 5-point dogs. The over/under is set at 227.

The Miami Heat stepped onto the hardwood against the Detroit Pistons and earned the victory with a final of 120-107 in their last game. Miami ended the contest having earned a 56.0% FG percentage (47 of 84) and converted 13 of their 34 three-point attempts. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Heat made 13 of 20 attempts for a rate of 65.0%. Concerning rebounding, they earned a total of 39 with 6 of them being offensive. They also doled out 32 assists for this game as well as creating 16 turnovers and getting 11 steals. When discussing defense, Miami allowed the other team to go 46.5% from the field on 40 of 86 shooting. Detroit earned 26 dimes and had 4 steals for the game. On top of that, Detroit pulled down 33 rebounds (7 offensive, 26 defensive) and got 5 rejections. Detroit finished shooting 72.7% when shooting free throws by knocking down 16 of 22 tries. They also made 11 out of their 35 shots from three-point range.

Precious Achiuwa is a player who was a contributor for the contest. He had 23 points on 10 of 16 shooting. He played 41:34 minutes and also totaled 10 rebounds. Achiuwa shot 62.5% from the floor but finished the game without an assist. Another guy that was a contributor in this matchup for the Heat was Nemanja Bjelica. He collected 6 rebounds in his 37:56 minutes on the court. He finished 61.5% from the floor in this game by connecting on 8-of-13 (21 points). When the final whistle blew, Bjelica earned 6 assists.

Miami heads into this game with a record of 40-32 this season. They have an average of 108.1 pts per game (25th in the league) while shooting 46.8% from the field. The Heat are connecting on 35.8% on shots from 3-point land (932 of 2,606) and 79.0% from the free throw line. As a unit, Miami is pulling in 41.5 rebounds per contest and has tallied 1,895 dimes this year, which ranks 9th in the NBA in terms of passing. They cough up possession 14.1 times per contest and as a squad are committing 18.9 personal fouls per game. Defensively, the Heat are able to force 15.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 19.6 fouls. They are ranked 23rd in basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 1,857 conceded so far this year. The Heat defensively are allowing a FG percentage of 45.9% (1,085 of 1,414) and they relinquish 42.9 rebounds per game as a squad. They give up 36.5% from beyond the arc and they are ranked 5th in basketball in PPG from their opponents (108.0).

When they last stepped on the court, the Milwaukee Bucks went home defeated by a final of 118-112 when they faced the Chicago Bulls. The Bucks snagged 31 defensive boards and 10 offensive rebounds for a total of 41 for the matchup. They coughed up the ball 11 times, while earning 13 steals for the contest. The Bulls were called for 20 fouls in this game which got the Bucks to the free throw line for 32 tries. They were able to bury 24 of those for a rate of 75.0%. Regarding 3-pointers, Milwaukee converted 12 of 37 attempts (32.4%). At the conclusion of this game, the Bucks finished 38 for 90 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 42.2%. The Bucks permitted the Bulls to convert 45 of 87 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 51.7% in this game. They finished shooting 43.8% from beyond the perimeter by connecting on 14 out of 32 and finished the game at 14 out of 19 from the free throw line (73.7%). When it comes to how they rebounded, Milwaukee allowed Chicago to get 45 overall (8 on the offensive side).

Jeff Teague ended up having an impact for the Bucks in this game. He knocked down 5 of 11 in the matchup giving him a rate of 45.5%, and had 3 rebounds. Teague totaled 23 points in his 33:38 mins on the court and had 7 dimes for this game. One more player that ended up playing a role for Milwaukee was Pat Connaughton. He finished with no assists in his 25:16 mins on the court, and he converted 5 out of 10 from the floor. Connaughton ended up shooting 50.0% from the field in addition to totaling 15 points and 1 rebound.

Milwaukee has a win-loss record of 46-26 so far this season. As an offensive unit, the Bucks are shooting 48.7% from the field, which has them ranked 3rd in basketball. Milwaukee has scored 8,649 pts so far this year (120.1 per contest) and they average 48.1 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 25.5 times per contest (14th in the league) and they are giving up possession 13.8 times per contest. The Bucks are committing 17.3 fouls per contest and they shoot 76.0% from the charity stripe. The Bucks on the defensive side of the court are 22nd in the league in PPG given up with 114.2. They are forcing their opponents into 13.2 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 45.6% from the floor (5th in the league). The Milwaukee defense concedes 38.4% on shots from behind the 3-point line (1,068 of 2,778) and their opposition makes 78.0% of their foul shots. They have surrendered 25.1 dimes and 43.4 rebounds every game, which ranks 17th and 13th in basketball.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Milwaukee (-5)

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