Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
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The MVP race has been the biggest topic of conversation around the NBA for the past few weeks. It’s a three-horse race between Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. We get two of those superstars and two-time MVPs in action today when the Denver Nuggets host the Milwaukee Bucks. Not only is this a matchup of MVP candidates, but also of the best team in each conference.
The Bucks are the best team in the NBA right now at 53-20 with a 2.5 game lead over the Celtics in the East. The Nuggets don’t have quite as good of a record, 49-24, but they do have a little more breathing room in the West, 3 games ahead of the Grizzlies.
This is going to be a great one, so let’s get right into the odds for the Bucks and Nuggets in Denver.
Bucks vs. Nuggets odds, spread and total
Bucks vs. Nuggets prediction and pick
There is nobody that can stop Nikola Jokic. What he can do as a passer and how Denver orbits around the gravity he creates on offense, as all eyes of the defense have to be on him, makes him virtually inevitable on that end of the floor. However if there’s a team that is the most well equipped to defend him it might be the Milwaukee Bucks.
Brook Lopez might be the Defensive Player of the Year and he’s probably not even the best defender in their front court because of Giannis’s presence. They can have Lopez battle with Jokic for 40 minutes with Giannis roaming the paint to clean up everything else that gets past Lopez and Jrue Holiday.
In March, the Nuggets are 17th in net rating because their defense has really fallen off. The Nuggets are 5-5 in their 10 games this month and the Bucks are 9-3 and second in net rating. The Bucks are also 12-1 against the spread in their last 13 road games. The altitude can be a problem for some teams, but I don’t think it will affect the Bucks too badly. I’ll take the points with the Bucks and I think Giannis has a monster game to make a statement in the MVP race.
Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change
Source: News