Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs. Milwaukee Bucks – Game #13
Keldon Johnson hopes to lead the Spurs over the Bucks (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs enter tonight’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks with a record of 5-7. After beginning the season 5-2, the Spurs have dropped their last five contests. If there is any solace to be had, it’s that San Antonio has played an extremely tough schedule in that stretch. Their five losses were to the Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and the Denver Nuggets twice.
The Bucks enter the contest with a record of 10-1. However, injuries have caused prognosticators to favor the Spurs tonight (more on this in a bit). Milwaukee’s only loss of the season so far was to Dejounte Murray and the Atlanta Hawks.
San Antonio Spurs Injury Update
After dealing with a plethora of injuries lately, the Spurs have no new injuries to report heading into the game against the Bucks. Zach Collins and Blake Wesley remain out with long-term ailments. Collins has a non-displaced fracture in his left leg, while Wesley has a torn MCL. Collins should be back at some point in December and Wesley is likely out until January.
San Antonio also has two players currently playing in the G League with the Austin Spurs. Malaki Branham, the 20th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, and Dominick Barlow are with Austin and are thus unavailable versus the Bucks.
Milwaukee Bucks Injury Update
Milwaukee’s injury update is a lot more notable, as they’re without their top three players. Giannis Antetokounmpo is out with an ankle injury, Jrue Holiday is also out with an ankle injury and Khris Middleton hasn’t played yet this season due to offseason wrist surgery. The Bucks are also without two players who figure to be key role players down the line: Pat Connaughton and Joe Ingles.
While that’s a lot of players on the sidelines for the Bucks, the Spurs shouldn’t be overconfident. In their last game, Milwaukee didn’t have any of these players and they still beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in double overtime. The Bucks got 36 points and 12 assists from Jevon Carter and 24 points and 13 rebounds from Brook Lopez.
San Antonio Spurs Starting Lineup
The Spurs are very likely to start Keldon Johnson at small forward, Devin Vassell at shooting guard, Tre Jones at point guard, Jakob Poeltl at center and rookie Jeremy Sochan at power forward. This has been head coach Gregg Popovich’s go-to starting lineup when they’ve all been healthy.
Off the bench, Doug McDermott, Josh Richardson and Charles Bassey are sure to play. Last game, an overtime loss to the Grizzlies (see the Grades), the only other player in the rotation was Romeo Langford. Tonight, expect either Langford or Keita Bates-Diop to be in the rotation.
Betting Guide: Spurs vs. Bucks
The Spurs are favored to beat the Bucks by 2 points and the over/under is set at 219.5. Picking the team that has lost five straight games to beat a team with a 10-1 record sounds ridiculous — but that’s exactly what you should do.
With the Bucks without their three best players and the Spurs desperate for a victory to end their losing streak, expect San Antonio to win and cover the 2-point spread.