Game 1 Atlanta Hawks vs Milwaukee Bucks Betting Odds, Lines Picks & Predictions

On Wednesday night, The Bucks and the Hawks will square off for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Both teams are coming to the conference finals after the 7-game series in which they were the underdogs. Milwaukee knocked out Brooklyn in the second round, after sweeping Miami in Round 1. With 8 postseason wins, their overall SU record now stands at 54-29. Against the spread, they’re 38-45 in this campaign. The Hawks have already dealt with two higher seeds and will be looking to do the same in this series. In Round 1 they disposed of the Knicks, while they got to the conference finals by beating the No. 1 seed, the 76ers. Over the course of the whole season, they’re 49-35 SU and 47-36-1 ATS. On Wednesday, the two teams will meet for the fourth time in this campaign. The Bucks were more successful so far, winning twice.

Line Movement

The Bucks have opened as huge favorites, at -8. However, early action on Atlanta has moved the spread to -7. The total was initially set at 229.5 but didn’t stay there for long. At the moment, most bookies are offering 226.5.

Notes on Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks are definitely the feel-good story of this postseason so far. They entered the playoffs with one of the youngest teams as the No’5 seed and managed to exceed all expectations. Atlanta has taken down two of the best defenses in the league and refused to go down even when losing big. A lot of credit goes to coach McMillan who took over in the middle of the season and turned this inexperienced team into true winners. Under his guidance, Trae Young established his place among the elite players in the league. However, he did struggle in game 7 on Sunday going 5-23 from the field. But, like many times this season, someone from an exceptionally deep roster stepped up. This time, it was Kevin Huerter who scored 27 points including a couple of clutch shots in the 4th quarter. John Collins contributed a lot under the basket, adding 16 rebounds to his 14 points.

DeAndre Hunter, Cam Reddish, and Brandon Goodwin all remain out for this series.

Notes on Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks have to like their chance of reaching their first NBA finals for the first time since 1974. They knocked out the presumptive championship favorites the Nets and have home-court advantage. Plus, the Bucks have probably the best player left in the playoffs in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Furthermore, they managed to shore up their defense in the playoffs which was their biggest issue in the regular season. In the Nets series, they posted a respectable defensive rating of 107.9. Now they go against a team with a slew of offensive weapons led by Trae Young. Still, the Bucks match up pretty well, especially against Young as they have one of the best perimeter defenders in the league in Jrue Holiday. On the other hand, they’ll have to do better offensively after scoring only 101.9+ points per game against Brooklyn.

Donte DiVincenzo, who’s out for the season, is the only absentee for the Bucks.

Betting Pick: UNDER 226.5

Both teams were known for high-powered offense and poor defense in the regular season. However, that has changed in the playoffs. Each of them has managed to keep their opponents under 100 points several times this postseason. There’s no reason to believe that this trend won’t continue. Plus UNDER is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings between the two.