Milwaukee Bucks Are Heavy Favorites Over Boston Celtics, Given 50-50 Shot To Reach 2019 NBA Finals

Expectations have certainly changed for the Milwaukee Bucks over the course of the 2018-2019 NBA season. The team wasn’t considered to be in the Eastern Conference’s top tier when the year began. Now, the first round of the playoffs isn’t even over and Milwaukee is basically given a 50-50 chance to reach the NBA Finals.

After sweeping the Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee is a pretty significant favorite to defeat the Boston Celtics in their upcoming second-round series. Boston also went 4-0 in the first round, making quick work of the Indiana Pacers.

The second conference semifinals matchup hasn’t been determined, though it’s pretty clear which teams will advance. The Toronto Raptors have a 3-1 series lead over the Orlando Magic, and the Philadelphia 76ers have the same advantage over the Brooklyn Nets.

Both Toronto and Philadelphia are expected to clinch their respective series at home Tuesday night. The Bucks have between +102 and +110 odds at various sportsbooks to win the East, per OddsShark, and the Raptors are their biggest challengers with odds ranging between +225 and +250.

Milwaukee was far and away the NBA’s best team in the regular season. The Bucks’ 60-22 record was the best in the league, putting them two games ahead of the Raptors and three games ahead of the Golden State Warriors in the overall NBA standings.

That means the Bucks will have home-court advantage against any potential playoff opponent. Including the postseason, Milwaukee is 35-8 at home.

No one came close to the Bucks’ plus-8.9 point differential. The Warriors were second in the league at plus-6.5.

The MVP race will come down to Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden, though Milwaukee’s star is more likely to win the award. After averaging 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game in 72 regular-season games, the Greek Freak put up averages of 26.3-12.0-3.5 in the team’s sweep of Detroit.

The Bucks’ sweep wasn’t quite like the Celtics’ first-round series. A few of Boston’s games came down to the wire and they never defeated Indiana by more than 10 points. Detroit didn’t stand a chance in any game against Milwaukee, losing every contest by 16 points or more.

Milwaukee leads the East with +450 odds to win the title. Golden State remains the odds-on favorites to complete their three-peat.