Milwaukee Bucks vs New York Knicks Prediction, 12/23/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Milwaukee Bucks vs New York Knicks

Date: Saturday, December 23, 2023

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

TV: MSG

Odds/Point Spread: Milwaukee (-2)

The Milwaukee Bucks (21-7) are en route to Madison Square Garden on Saturday where they will attempt to beat the New York Knicks (16-11). New York opens as 2-point dogs. The betting total is set at 239.5.

The Bucks faced the Magic and walked away with a win by a score of 118-114 in their last contest. Milwaukee ended having earned a 42.2% FG percentage (38 of 90) and buried 11 out of their 37 three-point attempts. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Bucks buried 31 of their 35 tries for a rate of 88.6%. Regarding pulling down boards, they collected a total of 51 with 10 of them being offensive. They also doled out 26 assists in the matchup while creating 7 turnovers and having 3 steals. In terms of defending, Milwaukee allowed the other team to shoot 45.5% from the floor on 45 out of 99 shooting. Orlando earned 26 assists and had 6 steals for the game. Additionally, Orlando collected 45 rebounds (13 offensive, 32 defensive) and added 6 blocks. Orlando ended up going 69.6% when shooting free throws by knocking down 16 of their 23 shots. They also made 8 out of their 33 shots from beyond the perimeter. With respect to personal fouls, the Bucks finished with 22 while the Magic racked up 23 personal fouls.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is someone who was a major factor in this matchup. He accounted for 37 points on 11 out of 25 shooting. He played 37 mins and snagged 10 boards. Antetokounmpo ended up shooting 44.0% from the floor and also distributed 6 assists.

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Milwaukee will enter this matchup with a win-loss record of 21-7 so far this year. They turn it over 13.6 times per game and as a team they are committing 20.1 fouls per game. As a unit, Milwaukee is collecting 44.4 boards per game and has earned 722 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 13th in the league in terms of passing the rock. The Bucks are shooting 37.9% on shots from beyond the arc (399 of 1,052) and 77.9% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 124.4 points per outing (2nd in basketball) while hitting 49.8% from the floor.

On defense, the Bucks are able to force 12.7 turnovers every game and they draw 21.0 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 22nd in the league in allowing assists to their opponents with 744 surrendered on the campaign. The Bucks are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 46.9% (1,245 of 2,657) and they surrender 44.1 boards per contest as a basketball team. They relinquish 34.9% from 3-point land and they are ranked 23rd in basketball in opponents PPG (119.0).

When they last stepped on the court, the Knicks walked away with a victory by a final of 121-102 against the Nets. The Knicks collected 42 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards for a total of 54 for this contest. They coughed it up 11 times, while getting 8 steals for this contest. The Nets had 20 personal fouls for the contest which took the Knicks to the charity stripe for a total of 25 attempts. They were able to knock down 20 of the free throws for a percentage of 80.0%. When talking about 3-pointers, New York made 13 out of 33 attempts (39.4%). At the conclusion of this game, the Knicks ended up going 44 for 95 from the floor which had them shooting 46.3%. The Knicks allowed the Nets to knock down 37 out of 101 attempts from the field which had them shooting 36.6% in the game. They finished 31.9% from 3-point land by going 15 of 47 and ended up going 13 of 17 at the free throw line (76.5%). When talking about how they attacked the glass, New York allowed Brooklyn to get 49 overall (17 offensive).

Julius Randle was important for the Knicks for this game. He converted 9 of 20 in the matchup for a rate of 45.0%, and had 7 rebounds. Randle recorded 26 points in his 34 minutes on the hardwood and had 4 dimes for the matchup.

New York has a win-loss record of 16-11 on the campaign. The Knicks are committing 17.9 fouls every game and they shoot 75.6% from the charity stripe. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 23.8 times per game (27th in basketball) and they lose possession via turnover 13.0 times per contest. New York has tallied 3,097 points on the season (114.7 per contest) and they pull in 45.8 boards per game. As an offensive team, the Knicks are hitting on 46.2% from the field, which has them ranked 23rd in basketball.

The Knicks on the defensive end are ranked 7th in the league in PPG given up with 111.4. They have forced 13.4 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 47.3% from the floor (18th in basketball). The New York defense allows 37.2% on three-point shots (363 of 977) and their opponents are making 77.9% of their foul shots. They have surrendered 26.1 assists and 40.9 boards on a nightly basis, which is ranked 15th and 1st in the NBA.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Milwaukee (-2)

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