The Milwaukee Bucks continue their West Coast trip this Saturday when they face off against the Los Angeles Lakers. This will be the first of the two scheduled meetings of these teams in the 2023-24 NBA regular season. Will the Bucks hurt LA’s playoff chances with a win? Or, will the Lakers avoid another loss during their current homestand?

Catch this game live on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 11 AM, Manila time

Away: Milwaukee Bucks (41-22/16-15 Away)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Damian Lillard
  • Malik Beasley
  • Jae Crowder
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo
  • Brook Lopez

The good times stopped rolling for the Bucks on Thursday, with the Golden State Warriors getting the best of Giannis Antetokounmpo and company in San Francisco, 125-90. Despite the Bucks allowing that many points to Golden State, Milwaukee head coach Doc Rivers put the blame more on his team’s offense. The Bucks shot just 38.2% from the field and 28.2% from long distance. 

That’s not always the case, though, for Milwaukee. The Bucks can recover this Saturday against a Lakers team that just got torched by its last three opponents for an average of 119.3 points on 51.2 FG%. It is also a good sign for the Bucks that they have won all the last three times they visited the Lakers while covering the spread in each of those contests. Moreover, the Bucks are 5-1 against the spread in their last five games versus the Lakers as the road team.

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Home: Los Angeles Lakers (34-30/22-11 Home)

Projected Starting Five:

  • D’Angelo Russell
  • Austin Reaves
  • LeBron James
  • Rui Hachimura
  • Anthony Davis

Like the Bucks, LeBron James and the Lakers did not have a great Thursday. De’Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings made mincemeat out of the Lakers’ defense, as they shot 55.7 FG%, resulting in a 130-120 Los Angeles loss. Unlike the Bucks, though, the Lakers did pretty well offensively in that contest. Los Angeles’ defense was really just horrible. 

James led the Lakers’ attack with 31 points and 13 assists before exiting the contest in the fourth quarter because of an ankle issue. He said he was fine, though, after the game and is not listed on the injury report at the moment, so he can be expected to suit up versus the Bucks. Rui Hachimura is also coming off a big game, going off for 29 points on 13/17 shooting on Thursday. For what it’s worth, the Lakers are both inside the top 10 in the league so far this season in both offensive eFG% (56.6%) and defensive eFG% (53.9% ). They are also 17-12-0 ATS this season in games after a loss.

PREDICTIONS:

Spread: The Bucks (+1.5) cover the spread.

Over/Under: The total (234.0) hits the Over.

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