The Milwaukee Bucks (1-5) will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers (7-0) tonight in the NBA. Tipoff from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland is set for 7:00 p.m. ET. The oddsmakers see the Cavaliers as 7-point home favorites over the Bucks (Cavs -7), while the total is set at over/under 230 points.
Talk about a tale of two starts to the 2024-25 regular season. The Cavaliers have roared to an undefeated start, while Milwaukee has only won 1 of its first 6 games. Can the Bucks avenge their buzzer-beating loss a few nights ago to Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs, or will Cleveland extend its record to an eye-popping 8-0?
Continue below for my Bucks vs. Cavaliers predictions and my NBA picks for Monday, November 4.
Bucks vs. Cavaliers Prediction, Pick, Odds
| Bucks Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline |
+7 -110 | 230 -110 / -110 | +225 |
| Cavaliers Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline |
-7 -110 | 230 -110 / -110 | -275 |
- Bucks vs. Cavaliers spread: Cavaliers -7
- Bucks vs. Cavaliers over/under: 230 points
- Bucks vs. Cavaliers moneyline: Cavaliers -275, Bucks +225
- Bucks vs. Cavaliers pick: Bucks +7.5 (-115)
My Cavaliers vs. Bucks best bet is on Milwaukee to cover the spread. For all of your NBA bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NBA odds page.
Milwaukee Bucks
There is no another way to say this: the Bucks stink right now.
Milwaukee has little bench depth outside of Bobby Portis and no consistent offensive threat beyond Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, as Khris Middleton is still sidelined.
The Lillard-Giannis duo would surely have been plenty of firepower in prior seasons but is not proving to be enough right now.
In fact, those two combined for 75 points, 20 rebounds, and eight assists on Saturday against Cleveland, as Lillard went 13-for-24 from the field (and 10-for-15 from 3-point land), while Giannis knocked down 15 of his 27 field goal attempts. And they still lost.
Milwaukee currently has the sixth-worst net rating in the NBA, third-lowest assist percentage, and seventh-lowest total rebounding percentage. Even when Middleton returns, it is unclear whether the Bucks will be able to turn things around. Middleton has had several lingering injuries in the past few seasons which have slowed him down.
Is this the beginning of the end for the Bucks, a team that was a championship favorite at the beginning of last season?
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland is firing on all cylinders to start its 2024-25 campaign.
The Cavaliers are undefeated (7-0) and have the second-highest offensive rating on the highest field goal percentage (52.6%) and second-highest 3-point percentage (40.6%).
For a team that was middle-of-the-road in offensive rating (16th) and boasted the 19th-highest 3-point percentage last season, this is an interesting development, especially since they have been without Max Strus, a career 36.5% shooter from deep, to start the year.
Cleveland will undoubtedly be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference this season, but this is not a team that has the personnel to be the league's best 3-point-shooting team. Some negative regression offensively should be expected.
Bucks vs. Cavaliers
Betting Pick & Prediction
Cleveland has not only won every game so far this season, but it has covered the spread in all of them, too. Unsurprisingly, the Bucks are just 1-5 ATS through their first six games. However, this is a fantastic sell-high spot for the Cavs and buy-low spot for the Bucks.
Milwaukee has struggled mightily through its first six games, but it still has two of the best players in the world on its roster.
Further, the Bucks are experiencing a horrible 3-point-shooting drought, as several historically above-average 3-point shooters are hitting at just a fraction of their career average. For example, Gary Trent Jr (25%), Pat Connaughton (26.3%), Bobby Portis (25%), and Brook Lopez (29.4%) are all shooting sub-30% from behind the arc. That will change sooner versus later.
And that change could happen as soon as tonight, since Cleveland only ranks 15th in opponent 3P% despite playing poor 3-point-shooting teams like the Pistons (25th in 3P%), Raptors (27th), Wizards (24th), and the Paolo-less Magic (26th) in four of their first seven games.
I'm slightly reluctant in backing the Bucks, but 7.5 points is too many to lay with a team that could return to Earth at any moment. The Cavs will probably win, but it should be reasonably close.
