Portland Trail Blazers vs Milwaukee Bucks Prediction, 1/4/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: Portland Trail Blazers vs Milwaukee Bucks

Date: Saturday, January 4, 2025

Location: Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

Fiserv Forum is the site where the Milwaukee Bucks (17-15) will compete against the Portland Trail Blazers (11-22) on Saturday.

The Trail Blazers stepped onto the hardwood against the Lakers and ended up losing by a score of 114-106 in their last game. Portland finished the contest having earned a 50.0% FG percentage (40 out of 80) and converted 9 out of their 26 3-point shots. When they shot from the free throw line, the Trail Blazers knocked down 17 of 21 attempts for a percentage of 81.0%. Concerning hauling in rebounds, they earned 45 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 17 dimes in this matchup as well as forcing the opposition into 12 turnovers and having 11 steals. In reference to the defense, Portland allowed 45.7% from the floor on 43 out of 94 shooting. Los Angeles dished out 41 dimes and had 5 steals in the matchup. In addition, Los Angeles pulled down 35 rebounds (4 offensive, 31 defensive) and got 6 blocked shots. Los Angeles went 92.9% at the charity stripe by making 13 of 14 attempts. They buried 15 of 43 attempts from beyond the perimeter. When talking about fouls, the Trail Blazers left the arena with 16 and the Lakers accumulated 22 fouls.

Anfernee Simons is a player who was a major factor for this game. He walked away with 23 points on 8 of 17 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 37 mins and pulled down 3 boards. Simons walked away from this one shooting 47.1% from the field and dished out 5 dimes.

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Portland will play this game with a record of 11-22 this season. They cough up possession 16.5 times per contest and as a squad are committing 19.8 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Portland is pulling down 43.0 boards per game and has accounted for 758 assists for the season, which is 27th in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. The Trail Blazers are shooting 33.2% on shots from 3-point land (392 of 1,182) and 77.1% from the free throw line. They have an average of 108.0 pts per game (26th in the NBA) while connecting on 44.5% from the floor.

On defense, the Trail Blazers are able to force 15.4 turnovers per contest while drawing 19.2 personal fouls. They give up 37.9% on 3-point shots and they are ranked 23rd in basketball in points per game allowed (117.2). The Trail Blazers are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 48.1% (1,395 of 2,898) and they concede 44.6 boards per game as a unit. They are 22nd in basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 915 surrendered on the campaign.

For their last game, the Bucks went home defeated by a final of 113-110 against the Nets. The Bucks were able to collect 28 defensive boards and 15 offensive boards for a total of 43 in this game. They gave up possession of the ball 12 times, while earning 5 steals for this contest. The Nets committed 16 fouls in the game which took the Bucks to the charity stripe for a total of 28 tries. They were able to make 19 of those for a rate of 67.9%. With regard to shots from downtown, Milwaukee converted 11 of their 37 attempts (29.7%). At the conclusion of this game, the Bucks finished 40 out of 90 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 44.4%. The Bucks permitted the Nets to convert 38 of 88 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 43.2% for the game. They finished shooting 30.8% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 12 of 39 and finished the game at 25 of 28 from the free throw line (89.3%). When discussing cleaning the glass, Milwaukee allowed Brooklyn to grab 42 in total (8 on the offensive glass).

Giannis Antetokounmpo ended up being a major contributor for the Bucks in the matchup. Antetokounmpo recorded 27 points in his 37 minutes on the court and tallied 7 assists for this contest. He knocked down 12 out of 24 in the game for a rate of 50.0%, and had 13 rebounds.

Milwaukee has a mark of 17-15 for the season. The Bucks are committing 18.6 fouls per game and they shoot 73.2% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 24.4 times per game (24th in basketball) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 14.2 times per game. Milwaukee has totaled 3,603 points this year (112.6 per game) and they collect 43.4 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Bucks are connecting on 47.7% from the floor, which ranks 7th in the league.

The Bucks defensively are ranked 13th in the league in PPG allowed with 111.4. They are forcing 13.7 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 45.2% from the field (6th in basketball). The Milwaukee defense allows 36.1% on shots from beyond the arc (442 of 1,225) and their opposition makes 80.5% of their free throw shots. They have surrendered 25.5 dimes and 45.3 boards per game, which ranks them 11th and 25th in the NBA.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Milwaukee

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