Bucks Favored Vs Celtics In Huge Eastern Conference Matchup

• The Milwaukee Bucks are the betting favorite tonight at home against the Boston Celtics in a game with huge playoff implications.
• The importance, and reason that the Bucks are favored, maybe due to the fact that this game is more important for the Bucks than the Celtics.

MILWAUKEE – The third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks host the second-seeded Boston Celtics tonight in what oddsmakers suggest may be a very close game.

Team:	Spread:	Moneyline:	Total:
Boston Celtics	+6.5 (-110)	+210	Over 227.2 (-110)
Milwaukee Bucks	-6.5 (-110)	-250	Under 227.5 (-110)

Star power will surely be a major factor in this game, the Milwaukee Bucks include 2022 NBA All-Stars Khris Middleton and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Boston Celtics includes 2022 NBA-Star Jayson Tatum and the front-runner for DPOY Marcus Smart.

How This Game Effects The Standings

The seeding implications for this game can be quite complicated but the main focus of this game is that if the Celtics win they will likely become the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

If the Bucks win, they greatly improve their chances at the second seed, but would still need to finish with a better record than the Celtics in the event the Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the Atlantic division.

The Celtics are -140 favorites to win the Atlantic division, while the 76ers are +110 to win the division.

The Top Four Seeds

Team:	Games Back:	Games Remaining:	Teams Remaining:
Miami Heat	0	2	vs. ATL/ @ ORL
Boston Celtics	2	2	@ MIL/ @ MEM
Milwaukee Bucks	2.5	3	vs. BOS/ @ DET/ @CLE
Philadelphia 76ers	2.5	3	@ TOR/ vs. IND/ vs. DET

Comparing Remaining Schedules

With so few games left, it becomes incredibly difficult to bet on the NBA because some teams that have been great have already clinched their playoff spots, while others are actively losing to improve draft position because they have already been mathematically eliminated from making the playoffs.

Amongst the Bucks, Celtics, and 76ers, the Bucks probably have the most difficult schedule.

The Detroit Pistons have been a scrappy and somewhat surprisingly competitive team lately, but they are not the reason that the Bucks’ schedule is harder than the Celtics and the 76ers. The Raptors (currently the fifth seed) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (currently the seventh seed, trying to escape the play-in) are both still trying to win games.

Legal online sportsbooks would still most likely have the Bucks as betting favorites of both games, but the 76ers (1/3) and the Celtics (1/2) simply have to play less competitive teams to close out the season than the Milwaukee Bucks.

News tags: basketball | Boston Celtics | Milwaukee Bucks | NBA