Milwaukee Bucks vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction, 12/17/2021 NBA Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Milwaukee Bucks vs New Orleans Pelicans

Date: Friday, December 17, 2021

Location: Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA

TV: ESPN

The New Orleans Pelicans (9-21) welcome the Milwaukee Bucks (19-11) at Smoothie King Center on Friday.

The Bucks played the Pacers and notched a win by a score of 114-99 in their last contest. Milwaukee walked away from the game having earned a 48.9% field goal percentage (44 out of 90) and converted 14 out of their 29 three-point attempts. When they shot from the free throw line, the Bucks buried 12 of 15 tries for a rate of 80.0%. With respect to hauling in rebounds, they earned 38 with 10 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 25 dimes in the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 6 turnovers and getting 10 steals. With respect to the defense, Milwaukee let their opponent shoot 47.0% from the field on 39 out of 83 shooting. Indiana recorded 45 assists and had 24 steals in the matchup. On top of that, Indiana pulled down 34 rebounds (11 offensive, 23 defensive) and added 3 blocks. Indiana finished shooting 90.9% from the free throw line by making 10 of 11 attempts. They also made 11 out of their 38 tries from downtown. In regard to personal fouls, the Bucks finished with 11 while the Pacers had 18 personal fouls.

Pat Connaughton is one player who was a contributor for the matchup. Connaughton ended up shooting 77.8% from the field but had no assists when the time ran out. He saw the court for 31 mins played and also grabbed 2 rebounds. He ended up scoring 20 points on 7 out of 9 shooting.

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Milwaukee enters this game with a win-loss mark of 19-11 on the campaign. They average 110.6 points per game (9th in the league) while going 45.5% from the field. The Bucks are connecting on 36.2% from downtown (427 of 1,178) and 75.1% from the free throw line. As a team, Milwaukee is pulling down 47.3 rebounds per game and has 687 dimes for the season, which is 13th in the league in terms of passing. They turn it over 14.4 times per contest and as a group they commit 17.3 fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Bucks have forced 13.9 turnovers per game while drawing 18.9 personal fouls. They are ranked 24th in the NBA in giving up assists to their opponents with 710 surrendered on the season. The Bucks defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 43.7% (1,182 of 2,702) and they concede 44.4 rebounds per game as a unit. They are surrendering 33.9% on shots from distance while they are 14th in the league in PPG from their opponents (106.6).

When they last played, the Pelicans walked away with a victory by a final of 113-110 against the Thunder. The Pelicans were able to collect 39 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds for a total of 49 in this contest. They also gave up possession of the ball 11 times, while earning 6 steals for this game. The Thunder earned 8 fouls in this game which took the Pelicans to the charity stripe for a total of 36 attempts. They were able to make 24 of those for a percentage of 66.7%. When discussing shooting from 3-point land, New Orleans converted 11 of their 28 tries (39.3%). In all, the Pelicans shot 39 out of 80 from the field which had them shooting 48.8%. The Pelicans allowed the Thunder to knock down 39 of 93 attempts from the floor which left them with a rate of 41.9% in the game. They finished shooting 37.1% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 13 of 35 and ended up going 19 out of 19 at the free throw line (100.0%). In relation to cleaning the glass, New Orleans allowed Oklahoma City to pull down 34 overall (8 offensive).

Devonte' Graham pitched in for the Pelicans for the game. He made 5 of 14 in this matchup giving him a rate of 35.7%, and totaled 4 rebounds. Graham recorded 15 points in his 33 mins on the hardwood and had 8 dimes for the contest.

New Orleans has a record of 9-21 on the season. As an offensive unit, the Pelicans are connecting on 43.4% from the field, which has them ranked 26th in the league. New Orleans has scored 3,120 points so far this year (104.0 per contest) and they pull down 46.4 rebounds per game. They are getting an assist 24.3 times per contest (11th in the NBA) and they are losing possession via turnover 15.0 times per game. The Pelicans commit 19.9 personal fouls per game and they shoot 79.7% from the charity stripe.

The Pelicans are ranked 24th in the league in points allowed per contest with 109.9. They are forcing their opponents into 13.4 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 47.1% from the field (28th in the league). The New Orleans defense gives up 36.9% on 3-point shots (377 of 1,023) and opponents are making 77.6% of their shots from the charity stripe. They allow 24.4 dimes and 42.9 boards per contest, which has them ranked 21st and 7th in the NBA.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take New Orleans

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