The Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks put their winning streaks on the line Wednesday night.
The pregame narrative: The NBA Cup group stage is wrapped up and we’re back to regular scheduled programming with the two hottest teams in the East squaring off. I’m backing Damian Lillard and Taurean Prince but still expect the Hawks to keep it close.
Check out my Hawks vs. Bucks same-game parlay predictions for Dec. 4.
Hawks vs. Bucks predictions
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Parlay: Hawks +7.5 + Lillard over 2.5 threes + Prince over 7.5 points (+335)
Hawks + 7.5 (-200): After a shaky 4-7 start to the campaign, the Hawks are rounding into form winning four straight games and seven of the last 11.
Over the four-game stretch, Atlanta has covered the spread in three games, with two of them as the underdog.
The Hawks are 6-4-0 ATS as a dog this season and have the rest advantage with Milwaukee playing last night.
The Bucks are 9-1 in their last 10 games but have only covered in five of those contests, so I like Atlanta to cover this number tonight.
SGP legs
Lillard over 2.5 threes (-235): The Hawks are a great team offensively that plays with a high pace, but their main issue is defending — in particular, from behind the arc.
Atlanta allows the most 3-pointers per game (16.2) and the second-most to opposing point guards (3.92), per Betting Pros.
In addition to the Hawks’ poor perimeter defending, the Bucks have the third-highest 3-point field goal percentage in the NBA (39.4).
Lillard has never shied away from shooting the deep ball. In his career, he averages over eight 3-point attempts per game and is north of nine this season.
The eight-time all-star has cleared this line in five straight and in 10 of his 17 contests on the year.
Prince over 7.5 points (-118): I’m riding Prince’s hot streak for as long as I can before his point totals adjust.
He’s cleared this number in five straight games while recording double-digit points in four.
With the injury to Kris Middleton (ankle), Prince is being asked to play a larger role on this Milwaukee team and he’s answered the call.
Middleton is listed as a game-time decision as of Wednesday morning. If he does make his season debut I’d imagine he’d be on a heavy minutes restriction.
Atlanta allows the most points to opposing small forwards and Prince is shooting a scorching 65% from the field in his last five outings.
Picks made at 11:30 a.m. on 12/04/2024.
