Milwaukee Bucks at New Orleans Pelicans - 12/17/21 NBA Picks and Prediction

New Orleans Pelicans (9-21) vs Milwaukee Bucks (19-11)

Game Info: Friday, December 17, 2021 at 8:00 pm (Smoothie King Center)

Betting Odds: New Orleans Pelicans +3.5 -- Over/Under: Click Here for the Latest Odds

The Milwaukee Bucks and the New Orleans Pelicans duke it out at the Smoothie King Center on Friday night.

The Milwaukee Bucks have been in great form lately as they’ve won five of their past seven games and they will be eager to stay hot after making light work of the Pacers in a 114-99 home win on Wednesday. Jrue Holiday led the team in scoring with 26 points and 14 assists on 12 of 18 shooting, Bobby Portis added 20 points with nine rebounds while Pat Connaughton chipped in with 20 points on seven of nine shooting. As a team, the Bucks shot 48 percent from the field and 14 of 29 from the 3-point line as they struggled to get in front of the Pacers until the fourth quarter where they used a decisive 21-0 run to make it look easy in the end, despite playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have been in decent shape as they’ve won six of their past 11 games and they will be looking to build some momentum after taking down the Thunder in a thrilling 113-110 road win on Wednesday. Brandon Ingram led the team with 34 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Jonas Valanciunas added 19 points with 16 rebounds while Devonte Graham chipped in with 15 points and eight assists. As a team, the Pelicans shot 48 percent from the field and 11 of 28 from the 3-point line as they struggled in the first half and trailed by as many as 12 points, before rallying in the fourth quarter to steal the game on a 61-foot shot from Graham at the buzzer in a wild finish.

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Looking at the betting trends, the Bucks are 1-4 ATS in their last five road games, 7-16 ATS in their last 23 games against a team with a losing record and 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games against a team below .400. The Pelicans are 0-4 ATS in their last four games following a win and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.

Head to head, the over is 23-9 in the last 32 meetings overall and the over is 5-1 in the last six meetings in New Orleans.

The Bucks will once again be without Bobby Portis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, but they should have Khris Middleton back in the lineup after he sat out on Wednesday. The Pelicans aren’t dealing with as many injuries and they’re coming into this game full of confidence after taking down the Thunder in one of the most thrilling finishes of the season. I would’ve taken the Pelicans if the bookies were giving us more points, but with the line so short, I’m sticking with the shorthanded Bucks to escape with the win and cover in this spot.

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