Pick against the spread, best player prop for Warriors vs. Bucks on Christmas Day

Both the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks had very bad losses in very different ways in their season openers. Let’s start with the Dubs. Golden State was throttled by the Brooklyn Nets on opening night 125-99. Things couldn’t have gone any worse without Draymond Green, who will once again be sidelined for the Dubs. Stephen Curry couldn’t carry the team out of a massive halftime hole. James Wiseman looked good in his NBA debut, but that was about it.

The Bucks had a tough time on the road against the Boston Celtics. After trailing by a ton heading into the fourth quarter, the Bucks stormed back to make it a game — one they probably should have won. Jayson Tatum banked in a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left before Giannis Antetokounmpo was fouled with a chance to force OT. Giannis made the first and missed the second, Milwaukee losing 122-121.

Golden State Warriors @ Milwaukee Bucks, 2:30 p.m. ET ABC

ATS Pick: Bucks -8.5

The Brooklyn Nets beat the breaks off the Warriors on Tuesday and the Bucks are just as good, if not better. Draymond Green has already been ruled out for this game and it’s clear that Golden State’s new roster is not built to compete against a legitimate contender. I’d give the visitors a shot at full strength but stopping the reigning MVP is a tall order at this point in the season.

Player Prop: Kelly Oubre Jr. O22.5 Points, Assists, Rebounds (-103)

The Warriors looked awful and will most likely lose this game badly. That doesn’t mean for about three and a half quarters that they aren’t going to play the starters. Somebody has to step up to help out Stephen Curry. Oubre shot 3-of-14 from the floor against Brooklyn. The Bucks defense did a bad job on wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Oubre isn’t those two, but he can also do better than 3-of-14. Oubre did have 7 rebounds and 2 assists, so all he had to do was score 14 points to get us to the over on this number.

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