Eastern Conference Finals Betting Odds, Lines Picks & Predictions Game 3

The pivotal game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals takes place on Sunday night in Atlanta. With the current score of 1-1, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Atlanta will look to bounce back from a horrible performance in Game 2 and regain their offensive mojo. On Friday, they suffered the hardest loss so far in the playoffs and scored less than 100 points for the first time this postseason. They now have a 50-36 overall SU record this season while going 48-37-1 ATS. The Bucks, on the other hand, played better than in any game since the Miami series and will be hoping to steal back the home-court advantage on Sunday. They were finally hitting shots and looked as good as ever on defense. The Bucks now boast a 55-30 SU and 39-46 ATS record over the whole season. With the win in Game 3, Milwaukee now has an upper hand in Atlanta matchups in this campaign. The Bucks won 3 times in 5 games.

Line Movement

The Bucks opened as -5 favorites. The line briefly moved to -4 but bounced back against to -4.5 where it stands at the moment. The total dropped slightly from the opening 224.5 to 224.

Notes on Milwaukee Bucks

The key for the Bucks in Game 3 was their shot-making and increased aggressiveness defending Trae Young. The Bucks patiently created good shots and finished the game with 52.1% from the floor. The shot 36.6% from three, which is not perfect, but still respectable and an improvement over the previous games. The Bucks completely obliterated the Hawks in the paint, scoring 62 points inside to Atlanta’s 30. Giannis Antetokoumpo again led the scoring with 25 points in only 29 minutes. Jrue Holiday followed with 22. With the game practically decided at the half, most of the key players got a chance for some rest. Holiday was the only member of the starting lineup playing more than 30 minutes.

Giannis suffered a mild calf injury which may be a reason for worry. However, he’s expected to play on Sunday. Donte DiVincenzo remains out.

Note on Atlanta Hawks

A slight change in the way Milwaukee defended Trae Young made all the difference for the Hawks on Sunday. Having Lopez meet him at the line of the screen instead of dropping deep while other defenders clogged the passing lane created all sorts of problems for Young. Atlanta’s key man finished with only 15 points, shooting 6-16 from the field. Even more important he had only 3 assists while committing 9 turnovers. In previous playoff games, even on a poor shooting day, he still managed to get his teammates involved. We saw none of it on Friday, with only three other players scoring in the double-digits. The only positive from this game for the Hawks was the return of Cam Reddish, In his first game since February, the young wing looked solid, playing 17 minutes and scoring 11 points.

Just like in the previous 2 games, Bogdan Bogdanovic is listed as questionable. DeAndre Hunter and Brandon Goodwin are out for the season.

Betting Pick: Bucks -4

The Bucks have been creating quality shots throughout the playoffs, but now they’re starting to go in. We expect that trend to continue on Sunday. On defense, it seems that they figured how to slow down Young. We’ll see if Atlanta will be able to adjust. Bogdanovic’s injury troubles are definitely an issue as the Hawks lack the reliable scorer behind Trae Young.