The New York Knicks and the Milwaukee Bucks clash at the Garden on Monday night, and here we look ahead to their Eastern Conference showdown in our latest NBA betting picks.
The in-form Knicks will provide a stern test for the Bucks – who are one of the favorites in the betting to win the Eastern Conference. In the conference futures betting market, the Bucks are second favorites at +310. Only the Celtics at +200 are above Mike Budenholzer’s team in the betting. The third favorite to win the Eastern Conference are the Brooklyn Nets at +350. The Knicks are down at +8000.
The best betting sites to win the 2023 NBA Championship make the Boston Celtics favorite at +400. The Bucks are next at +600, with the Nets at +750. After the three leading contenders come the Golden State Warriors at +950, with the Denver Nuggets not far behind at +1000.
The above odds are taken from BetOnline, which is one of the best NBA betting sites on the internet. For more details, please check out our BetOnline sportsbook review. Full NBA Championship betting can be found below in our odds table.
Betting to Win 2023 NBA Western Conference | |||
---|---|---|---|
Boston Celtics | +400 | +400 | +400 |
Milwaukee Bucks | +600 | +600 | +600 |
Brooklyn Nets | +750 | +750 | +750 |
Golden State Warriors | +950 | +950 | +950 |
Denver Nuggets | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
LA Clippers | +1100 | +1100 | +1100 |
Memphis Grizzlies | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
Phoenix Suns | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
Cleveland Cavaliers | +1800 | +1800 | +1800 |
New Orleans Pelicans | +1800 | +1800 | +1800 |
Philadelphia 76ers | +1800 | +1800 | +1800 |
LA Lakers | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
Dallas Mavericks | +2800 | +2800 | +2800 |
Miami Heat | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
New York Knicks | +12500 | +10000 | +10000 |
The New York Knicks are currently on an impressive winning streak of four. Yes, it’s not like the Sun’s winning run from last season, but it marks a major improvement in form for Tom Thibodeau’s team.
The wins have seen the Knicks move up the Eastern Conference. And they are now closing in on the top five teams in the table.
Their four wins on their streak have come against the Rockets (108-88), the Suns (102-83), the Spurs (117-114), and most recently they defeated the Raptors 112-108 in Canada on Friday night.
In their last ten matches, the Knicks are 5-5, and overall this season, they are 22-18. At odds of +8000 to win the Eastern Conference and +12500 to win the NBA Championship, they aren’t expected to be a side contending come to the end of the season.
The form of the Bucks has been a touch inconsistent lately, to say the very least.
After a decent run earlier in the season, the Bucks have a 4-6 record in their ten matches. They seem to be going through a spell of win one, lose one. This culminated in a 138-109 thrashing at home to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night.
The damage in this match was done in the first quarter when the Hornets rushed into a 51-28 lead. And in the process, matching the NBA record of 51 points scored in the opening quarter.
Overall, the Bucks have a 25-14 record this season and are at the top end of the Eastern Conference, well in the mix with the Celtics and the Nets. If they can find some consistency and go on a winning streak, they could possibly win the conference. Hence their odds of +310.
But when they’re losing games like the one to the Hornets by margins of 29 points (they also lost 118-95 to the Wizards and 139-118 to the Celtics recently), it’s hard to see where that consistency is going to come from.
So, what will be the outcome tonight? Let’s take a look at the latest odds and also name our latest free NBA betting picks.
Despite having a home advantage and being the team in better form, the best NBA betting sites don’t make the Knicks favorites to win this match. The Bucks, at -145 on the moneyline are honored with that accolade. The Knicks are coming in at +125.
On the handicap, the Knicks are getting +3 points to start, and with that advantage, are -115. Starting at -3, the Bucks are -105. Moving onto the total points market and the spread is set at 226. Both over and under 226 are -110 with BetOnline.
This really is a hard match to call. The Bucks were terrible against the Hornets on Friday night, and it’s hard to make any case for them based on that performance. But at the same time, they surely can’t be that bad again, can they?
With this in mind and the fact that the Bucks are an up-and-down side, I’m going to work on the theory that they are due an up. My betting pick for this match is the Milwaukee Bucks to bounce back with a win on the handicap market. If we’re going to go down, at least let’s go down, risking the better odds.
On the total points market, in the Knicks, last five matches, over 226 points have been scored twice. Both against the Spurs, one at home and one away. Matches involving the Bucks have been over 226 in three of their last five fixtures. All three have been at home, though.
If this match was in Wisconsin, I would go for overs. But it isn’t, so based on the above stats, I’m going for under 226 points for my second betting pick.