Milwaukee’s five-game road trip wraps up Tuesday night in the desert. It started with a new coach as Doc Rivers’ tenure with the Bucks has gotten off to a 1-3 start following Sunday’s 123-108 loss to the Jazz.
The Bucks are now sandwiched between a pair of streaking teams in the Eastern Conference standings. Milwaukee is tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the No. 2 seed and holds just a one-game advantage over the New York Knicks.
Milwaukee is now an underdog in back-to-back games for the first time all season. With injury concerns, can they hang tough with the Suns?
Phoenix is 7-3 overall in its last 10 and finished a seven-game road trip on a high note, winning three of its final four. The Suns are coming off a 140-112 win over the lowly Washington Wizards, but will have a tougher test on offense when Milwaukee visits the Footprint Center on Tuesday.
Here’s the betting preview for Tuesday’s nationally-televised cross-conference contest with a best bet.
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Bucks vs. Suns odds, spread and total
Bucks vs. Suns how to watch
- Date: Tuesday, Feb. 6
- Game time: 10 p.m. EST
- Venue: Footprint Center
- How to watch (TV): TNT
- Bucks record: 33-17
- Suns record: 29-21
Bucks vs. Suns injury reports
Milwaukee Bucks
- Andre Jackson Jr. (wrist): probable
- Brook Lopez (personal): questionable
- Damian Lillard (ankle): questionable
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee): questionable
- Khris Middleton (knee): questionable
Phoenix Suns
- No injuries to report
Bucks vs. Suns key players to watch
Bucks
Bobby Portis: Milwaukee has a lengthy injury report, which could lead to more minutes and opportunities for Portis. The 6-foot-10 forward averages 12.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 50% from the field. Portis opened February with two solid performances. He turned in a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in Saturday’s 129-117 win over Dallas before scoring 27 on 11-of-20 shooting and grabbing 7 rebounds in Sunday’s loss in Utah.
Suns
Bradley Beal: Phoenix played extremely well in January (11-5 overall) and it was in large part due to Devin Booker, who averaged 30 points per game. It was Beal’s turn in the win over Washington. Against his former team, Beal was the Suns’ leading scorer for the first time in over three weeks, going 16-of-21 from the field with four 3-pointers and 43 points. Prior to that performance, Beal shot just 4-of-29 from beyond the arc in the previous five games.
Bucks vs. Suns prediction and pick
You have to start with the injuries for Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo looks likely to play against the Suns while Damian Lillard is more of a question mark with an ankle injury despite playing 38 minutes in Milwaukee’s loss to Utah on Sunday.
The Bucks are still in the early stages of learning a new system under Doc Rivers, a process that will take some time. That’s been obvious with the Bucks dropping three of four since Rivers was added to the bench. Phoenix has been playing well, but the Suns have done most of their damage on the road (15-10 overall) and against bad teams.
Phoenix is 19-7 against teams with losing records and just 10-14 against squads that are over .500. Furthermore, the Suns have been brutal to backers at home, going 7-17 ATS inside the Footprint Center and just 6-14-1 as a home favorite.
Milwaukee has been one of the most profitable teams to the over this season (28-22) and the Suns are 14-10-1 to the over in home games. Phoenix ranks 11th in the NBA in offensive rating, but the Suns have been on fire offensively with Devin Booker’s red-hot January as part of a 1-2 punch with leading scorer Kevin Durant (28.3 points per game).
Now, Bradley Beal looks to have gotten out of a recent shooting slump, and it’s a favorable matchup against a Milwaukee team that ranks 24th in scoring defense. Go with the over.
Game odds update periodically and are subject to change.