Bucks at Celtics Lines, Score Prediction & 2024 NBA Week 7 Odds – Khris Middleton make Season debut

The first game of an ESPN NBA doubleheader is a possible Eastern Conference Finals preview as the surging Milwaukee Bucks visit the Boston Celtics, who are solid favorites on the NBA odds.

It will be the season debut of former Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton.

Milwaukee Bucks +243

Just when it appeared the Bucks had figured things out on a seven-game winning streak, they were upset at home by Atlanta on Wednesday, 119-104, although it was the second of a back-to-back for Milwaukee. After building a 20-point lead, the Hawks kept the Bucks at bay for much of the second half, overcoming brief Milwaukee spurts. The Hawks had a 30-12 advantage in fast-break points, outrebounded Milwaukee 55-40, had a 64-34 edge in points in the paint and made 20 of 22 free throws.

Injury Report – Dec. 6 at Boston

Out:
Johnson (G League)
Livingston (G League)
Smith (G League)

Questionable:
Beauchamp (Neck Spasms)

Probable:
Antetokounmpo (Right Patella Tendinopathy)
Middleton (Bilateral Ankle Surgery)
Prince (Right Patella Tendinopathy)

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 5, 2024

The Bucks looked tired as Atlanta was able to get out and run (30 fast break points) and beat Bucks’ rotations on the interior (64 paint points).

“I thought we were dead-legged most of the game,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said. “We didn’t think well, which is a direct sign of fatigue. Didn’t execute very well. Our passes were really late.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Antetokounmpo was terrific in defeat with 31 points, 11 rebounds and five assists – his 11th game with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds this season. He’s averaging 32.6 points, 11.6 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game across 19 contests, delivering career-high marks in points and assists while being on pace to average a double-double for the eighth straight season.

“We don’t like the feeling of losing,” Antetokounmpo said. “We had won seven in a row so when we came in here the locker room was quiet and that’s the feeling that you want to have as a team, that yeah, we gave one away. But now we just gotta go back, watch the film, do our adjustments and we have one of the best teams in the East, we have a big one in two days (in Boston) and get ready to compete there.”

Damian Lillard

Lillard added 25 points, five assists and four rebounds. Lillard continues to emerge as an elite three-point threat for the Bucks, and he posted his seventh straight game with at least 20 points and multiple threes made. He has at least five threes in his last four games, a span in which he’s shooting an elite 54.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Khris Middleton

The big story Friday will be the season debut of former All-Star swingman Khris Middleton off summer ankle surgeries. Injuries have limited Middleton to 99 regular season and playoff games over the last two seasons.

Middleton was cleared to play towards the end of November and participated in a 5-on-5 practice last week. After another 5-on-5 session Wednesday morning, the decision was made before the team left for Boston that the three-time All-Star can return. The Bucks were hopeful Middleton would be ready for the start of the 2024-25 season, but considering his value to the Bucks — 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game last season — a cautious approach to rehab was taken.

The addition of Middleton should aid in taking some of the offensive load off Antetokounmpo’s shoulders. Middleton gives the Bucks another reliable scorer next to Giannis and Lillard, someone who can play with or without the ball in his hands and a guy who will boost Milwaukee’s fourth-rank 3-point attack. It’s reasonable to expect him to be on a minutes restriction at first, but Andre Jackson Jr. and Gary Trent Jr. will likely see less playing time with Middleton back.

Boston Celtics -313

Boston won for the 10th time in 11 games on Wednesday, 130-120 over Detroit. The Celtics scored 12 straight to take an 18-4 lead less than four minutes into the game and led by 20. Boston a double-digit lead until the fourth quarter, when Detroit hit four straight 3-pointers to come within eight points, 109-101, and force Boston coach Joe Mazzulla to put All-Star Jaylen Brown back in.

The Pistons cut it to five in the final minute on Tobias Harris’ 3-pointer, but Payton Pritchard’s 3 sealed it. The C’s were without starters in Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday but both seem likely to return Friday. Tatum, the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month for October/November, is one of three NBA players with at least 70 threes and 100 assists this season, including teammate Derrick White.

Jaylen Brown

Brown led the way Wednesday with 28 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Brown struggled from beyond the arc and made just one of his six attempts from distance but led all scorers without Tatum. Brown helped to create a total of 52 points – 28 of his own and 24 of his teammates’.

Kristaps Porzingis

“I think he does a good job of trying to read the team: who needs to get a touch, who we need to get going,” Porzingis said. “He’s good at that. If he needs to take more responsibility and attack more and create more, he does that for us. We already know what he gives us defensively, his physicality. When he’s engaged like this, he’s one of the best players in the league in my opinion. What we love about him is that he’s going to make the right play and he’s going to give the team what the team needs in that moment.”

Porzingis amassed 26 points and nine rebounds – season highs in both. Tatum’s absence made room for Porzingis to contribute more on offense and he hasn’t missed a step since returning. He’s eclipsed 21 points in three of the four games he’s appeared in this season. Sam Hauser had a season-high 20 points, moving into the starting lineup after Holiday was ruled out due to an ongoing knee issue.

The Record

It marked the eighth time this season at least three players Boston scored 20 points in the same game. The Celtics have won 11 straight games against Detroit, tying their fourth-longest winning streak against the Pistons. Boston had its NBA-leading ninth game with at least 20 made three-pointers this season and will look to surpass their franchise single-season record of 17 such games (2022-23). The Celtics own the best winning percentage in games with 20+ three-pointers in NBA history (min. 20 games) with a 54-5 overall record and 91.5 percentage, followed by No. 2 Cleveland (20-2; 90.9%).

Injury Report for tomorrow vs. Milwaukee:

Al Horford (left big toe sprain) – QUESTIONABLE
Kristaps Porzingis (left PTT injury management) – QUESTIONABLE
Jayson Tatum (right patella tendinopathy) – QUESTIONABLE

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 5, 2024

Al Horford

Horford reached 900 career made three-pointers vs. Detroit, becoming only the second player in NBA history to register at least 900 threes, 8,600 rebounds, and 1,200 blocks in their career, joining Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki. Payton Pritchard is one of three players shooting at least 42.0 percent on at least 8.0 three-point field goal attempts per game this season (Anthony Edwards, Tyler Herro).

How to Bet Bucks at Celtics Lines

When: Friday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: TD Garden
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+

Bucks vs Celtics Season Series

Believe it or not, this concludes the season series already with the Celtics up 2-0. The one game in Boston was on Oct. 28 and the Celtics rolled 119-108. Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, and Payton Pritchard came off the bench and hit eight 3-pointers en route to 28 points. Damian Lillard led the Bucks with 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 10 boards and six assists. It was close until late in the third quarter, when Pritchard hit a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left, putting Boston ahead 90-82. The Celtics scored the next seven points for a 15-point lead.

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