With just three days remaining in the NBA’s regular season and plenty of playoff implications on the line, the Bucks and Thunder face off Friday night in Oklahoma City.
The Bucks can potentially secure the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference (with a win and a Knicks loss), while the Thunder look to inch closer to the top spot in the Western Conference.
Milwaukee will be severely shorthanded for this game, with Giannis Antetokounmpo injured and Damian Lillard doubtful. The spread opened at Thunder -8 but quickly moved to -14.5 after the injury report was released.
There’s a chance the Bucks rest all of their key players (Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis are listed as questionable) with little incentive to finish with the No. 2 seed, where Miami or Philadelphia potentially could await in the first round.
Oklahoma City is tied with Minnesota at 55-25, one game behind first-place Denver heading into Friday. Denver has an easy remaining schedule with the Spurs and Grizzlies on tap, while the Timberwolves host the Hawks on Friday before closing out the season with the Suns at home.
The Bucks started April with four consecutive losses, including three defeats as double-digit favorites to Washington, Memphis and Toronto.
They bounced back in a big way with consecutive blowouts of top-seeded Boston and Orlando, which currently occupies the No. 5 seed in the East.
The victory over the Magic came without Antetokounmpo, who will miss the Bucks’ remaining two games with a strained left calf.
Antetokounmpo suffered the injury in Tuesday’s 104-91 home win over Boston.
Against Orlando, Portis filled the void with 30 points, nine rebounds and a career-high five steals.
Milwaukee is currently ahead of the Knicks by one game and the Cavaliers by two games in the Eastern Conference and will close out the regular season Sunday in Orlando.
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Oklahoma City, which finishes out the regular season with a home game against playoff-bound Dallas on Sunday, is riding a three-game winning streak.
All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.4 points at home, where OKC has covered the spread in three consecutive games.
The Thunder have much to play for in their final two games, and with Antetokounmpo sidelined it’ll be an uphill battle for the Bucks on the road.
Let’s take OKC to cover the big number.
The play: Thunder -14.5 (-110, FanDuel)