The Milwaukee Bucks will begin a season-long five-game road trip when they visit the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.
Milwaukee’s new head coach, Doc Rivers, is expected to make his debut with the team after being hired last Friday. And what a debut it should be against the defending NBA champion Nuggets.
Bet on Bucks vs. Nuggets
MIL +4
DEN -4
Denver is coming off a 111-105 home victory over the Joel Embiid-less 76ers on Saturday and has won four of its last five games. Embiid, a viable candidate to retain his MVP Award this season, was a late scratch due to left knee soreness, spoiling a potential matchup against Denver big man Nikola Jokic.
Let’s take a look at bet365‘s odds for this high-profile matchup:
Bucks vs. Nuggets odds
| Bucks Moneyline Odds | +145 |
| Nuggets Moneyline Odds | -170 |
| Over/Under | 238.5 points (over -110, under -110) |
| Spread | Nuggets -4 (-110) |
| Time/Date | January 29, 9:00 p.m. ET |
| TV | Broadcast: TSN Stream: NBA League Pass (How to watch the NBA in Canada?) |
All odds courtesy of 
About the Bucks (32-14 SU, 18-27-1 ATS, 28-18 o/u)
Rivers was hired as the franchise’s 18th head coach on Friday after the team made the shocking decision to fire Adrian Griffin despite boasting a 30-13 record at the time. Rivers boasts 1,097 career NBA wins on his resume, needing just one to pass Larry Brown for eighth on the all-time list. It’ll be interesting to see how the new head coach settles in and how the players react on Monday night. The timing for the new head coach to make his debut couldn’t be worse, as the Nuggets present a formidable challenge as one of the NBA’s top teams.
The good news is that the Bucks are coming off a 141-117 pounding of the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the team with 30 points, but three other players (Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez, and Bobby Portis Jr.) scored 20 or more points in the lopsided victory. Milwaukee is averaging 124.4 points per game this season, trailing only the Indiana Pacers (124.8 ppg) in that category.
About the Nuggets (32-15 SU, 19-27-1 ATS, 17-29-1 o/u)
Denver’s last two games haven’t been impressive. The Nuggets were routed 122-84 by the Knicks in the final stop of a five-game road trip last week and then barely slipped by the Embiid-less Sixers at home on Saturday.
The Achilles’ heel of this team is its inability to make foul shots. The Nuggets are 28th in the league in free-throw percentage (74.9) and they went a combined 24-for-38 from the line on Saturday, with Jokic missing six of his 16 attempts, and Canadian Jamal Murray converting on just one of his four opportunities. It’s a different story from the field, though, as the Nuggets are shooting 51.5% at home in the high altitude, the best mark in the NBA at home.
The Nuggets are 18-4 straight-up at home, but just 11-10-1 ATS in the friendly confines of Ball Arena.
Nikola Jokic triple-double
+160
Injury concerns
Antetokounmpo is the only player listed on the Bucks’ injury report. He’s probably with an illness.
The Nuggets don’t have any new injuries to report. Julian Strawther (knee) and Vlatko Cancar (ACL) are both out due to existing injuries.
Betting trends
- Denver has won 30, or 71.4%, of the 42 games it has been a favourite this season.
- The Bucks have been the moneyline underdog just twice this season and lost both games.
- The Nuggets have played under the total in five straight games.
- The Bucks are just 2-6 ATS in their last eight games.
Player prop trends
- Lopez has been automatically cashing tickets in the points + rebounds + assists betting category recently. The Bucks centre is -125 to record over 18.5 PRAs and has exceeded that total in five straight games and nine of his last 10, averaging 24.7 PRAs during that span.
- Jokic is having a similar run on points + rebounds. He’s -120 to record over 39.5 points + rebounds, a mark he’s surpassed in six straight games.
- Antetokounmpo is averaging 2.4 steals + blocks this season. He’s a steep -190 to record over 1.5 steals + blocks, a mark he’s exceeded in six straight contests.
- Denver small forward Peyton Watson has recorded at least one block in five straight games, averaging two per game during that span. He’s -130 to record over 0.5 blocks.
Wagers to consider
- Big-time players usually show up for big-time games. How about a boosted same-game parlay that centres around Jokic and Antetokounmpo? Both players to score 30 or more points and haul in 10 or more rebounds has been boosted at bet365 to +700 from +575.
- Jokic triple-double: +160. The big man has 13 triple-doubles this season and he’ll be counted on for a big performance in this marquee matchup at home. He last accomplished the feat three games ago with a 31-13-10 stat line against the Pacers.
