Bucks vs Trail Blazers Picks and Predictions: Milwaukee Sets Portland Ablaze

The Portland Trail Blazers' detonation of a season continues tonight as they host the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. 

Already stuck in a clear "cue the rebuild" situation, Portland got the jump on next week's trade deadline by shipping Norman Powell to the Clippers for a return that won't be suiting up tonight yet, leaving it even more shorthanded. 

Find out if the home side can keep up tonight as we break down the matchup with our NBA picks and predictions for Bucks at Trail Blazers on Saturday, February 5.

Bucks vs Trail Blazers odds

This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.

Milwaukee opened as an 8.5-point favorite, where the line has remained as of Saturday morning. The total popped up at 226.5 with early Over money driving it up to 228 at most outlets.

Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until tip-off and be sure to check out the full NBA odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.

Bucks vs Trail Blazers predictions

• Prediction: Milwaukee -8.5 (-110)
• Prediction: Under 228 (-110)
• Best bet: Milwaukee 1H -6 (-110)

Predictions made on 2/5/2022 at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.

Bucks vs Trail Blazers game info

• Location: Moda Center, Portland, OR
• Date: Saturday, February 5, 2022
• Tip-off: 10:00 p.m. ET
• TV: BSW1, ROOT Sports NW

Bucks vs Trail Blazers betting preview

Key injuries

Bucks: Brook Lopez C (Out), George Hill PG (Out).
Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard PG (Out), Eric Bledose G (Out), Justise Winslow SF (Out), Keon Johnson SG (Out), Larry Nance Jr. PF (Out), Nasir Little SF (Out), Cody Zeller C (Out).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.

Betting trend to know

Trail Blazers are 0-4 ATS in their last four games overall. Find more NBA betting trends for Bucks vs. Trail Blazers.

Bucks vs Trail Blazers picks and predictions

Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.

Spread analysis

The other foot began to drop in Portland yesterday when the Blazers effectively salary-dumped Norm Powell to the Clippers, queueing a likely tear-down that has been posited ever since Damian Lillard's alleged offseason discontent began infiltrating the news cycle.

Not only was the trade horribly lopsided, the Blazers won't have any of the pieces sent back in uniform for tonight's game, stretching their already-thin rotation even further. 

This isn't entirely bad news for the Blazers, who appear to be attempting a not-so-covert tank at this point. They host the Bucks tonight, in a game they're fairly unlikely to compete in.

For starters, Milwaukee will field the three best players on the floor in Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and reigning Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Not only is Holiday one of the NBA's more balanced scorer/distributors, he's also a defensive menace that the Bucks can deploy on whichever of Portland's triggermen — CJ McCollum or Anfernee Simons — is giving them more issues. Likewise, Giannis can be an elite deterrent around the rim, quelling the threat from a resurgent Jusuf Nurkic, who averaged 17 and 12 in January.

The Bucks can sell out on defending these limited points of attack because the Blazers frankly don't have the depth or offensive talent to make them pay for it elsewhere. Their undersized rotation (de-facto backup center Larry Nance is also out) will feature heavy doses of Tony Snell and Ben McLemore, two journeymen who have never been feared on offense. Behind them, there's little NBA experience to even speak of.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee knows it's get-your-shit-together time in an Eastern Conference with just two games separating first and fifth place (it's currently fourth). The Bucks have been inconsistent even when (rarely) healthy so far this season and will want to put a sound beating on this sad squad so they can build momentum for the stretch run. 

The Blazers not only played last night, but lost outright to the Oklahoma City Thunder as 6-point favorites. So, they are considerably less fresh than the Bucks (who have played all of one game this week, on Tuesday), and couldn't be setting the barometer for current form much lower. 

This is a floundering Portland squad on which every single player is operating under the uncertainty of possibly being traded in the next week, facing the defending champs, who are motivated to assert themselves. 

This one shouldn't be close at all.

Prediction: Milwaukee -8.5 (-110)

Over/Under analysis

Milwaukee's one of those teams that can flex an elite edge on both sides of the ball depending on its mood, and tonight, that muscle should be on defense. 

With so few credible weapons left on the Blazers' roster, and at positions the Bucks defend at an elite level, there should be little room to breathe for a Portland squad that's shorthanded and coming off a back-to-back.

Portland will be weary and likely forced to milk the shot clock, especially when one of McCollum or Simons sits. Milwaukee's also been playing at a Bottom-10 pace over the past few weeks, and could be less apt to push the tempo, especially if they get up big early and are incentivized to burn time. 

The 228 total is set way above the 219.8 ppg these teams collectively average, and seems predicated on the perception that Milwaukee will get out running and shred the Blazers' awful defense.

But we like the other side of the story: the one where Portland doesn't have enough firepower to prevent the Bucks from clamping down on its finite scorers. The Blazers should struggle to do their share of the lifting.

Prediction: Under 228 (-110)

Best bet

This one could get out of hand early. 

The Blazers are thin, tired after last night's loss, and all of their players know they could be traded at literally any point this week. It's a depressing circumstance that doesn't lend itself at all to an inspired start in this game. 

The Bucks are 31-22 against first-half spreads this season, and if this isn't a soft spot for them to deliver early haymakers to a clearly inferior team, we don't know what is. 

The spread on this game has moved considerably since we made our ATS pick earlier this morning, with the first-half spread now at Bucks -6.

But we're still confident in Milwaukee's ability to storm out to a big lead here, and are backing them as such.

Pick: Milwaukee first half -6 (-110)

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