The Milwaukee Bucks host the Detroit Pistons in a rematch of Monday’s night matchup. The Bucks won Monday’s affair by only 2 points (110-108) but were significantly superior in the game’s first quarter, winning it by 11 points, 34-23. Such early dominance has been a theme so far this season with Milwaukee playing exceptionally well in games’ opening quarters. In this post, we’ll be featuring the best Pistons-Bucks first quarter bet.
As for tonight’s opening frame, the Bucks are currently favored by 3.5-4.5 points with the total set at 56.5-57.5. Given the teams’ first quarter rates so far this season, Detroit should be challenged to generate points once again. Be sure to check our OddsShopper tool for the latest odds.
Best Pistons-Bucks Bet: First-Quarter Team Total
Milwaukee’s first quarter play has been elite to start the year, particularly defensively. The team plays at a middling to slow-ish pace and has the best first quarter net rating so far this season (26.6), winning the opening frame by an average margin of 7.3 points.
The Bucks play at a high level on both ends of the floor, having the second-best defensive rating (94.7) and third-best offensive rating (121.3). Their defense to start games is remarkably good, limiting opponents to 45.2% effective FG% (league’s worst) and only 24 first quarter points, second-fewest in the association. In fact, Atlanta is the only team to score more than 24 first quarter points vs the Bucks (30) so far through 6 games (scoring 30), and that game was the back end of a back-to-back for both teams. Offensively, the team scores 31.3 points per opening quarter, third-most in the league. In all, the Bucks are a top-tier first quarter team.
Detroit on the other hand is one of the league’s worst first quarter teams, struggling mightily to contain opposing offenses and to a lesser degree to generate points themselves. Playing at a similar pace to that of Milwaukee, the Pistons have the second-worst first quarter net rating in the league (-19.9) and a negative 5.3 points differential. The team is bad defensively, having the third-worst defensive rating while allowing opponents to shoot well (56.9% effective FG%) and score an average of 31.6 first quarter points, fourth-most in the league.
Their offensive rates are better but still far from good, and the team’s eighth-worst offensive rating (102.9) is actually much closer to the Thunder’s (101.6, seventh-worst) than it is to the Kings’ (107, ninth-worst). The team shoots poorly and manage to score only 26.3 first quarter points, seventh-fewest in the league.
They rely on free throws to generate points (17.6% of the team’s first quarter points are the result of free throws, fifth-most) however going to the line won’t be easy tonight – Milwaukee limits opponents to 4.7 free throws attempts per opening quarter (tenth-fewest) and held the Pistons to only 4 first quarter free throw attempts when the teams faced each other on Monday.
Considering the Pistons anemic offense and the Bucks excellent defense to start games, Detroit should struggle once again to score points in the game’s opening quarter. Their first quarter team total points is 26.5 which seems rather high given that the team will need to go above its season average for the over to hit in a matchup against a first-class defense. As of time of writing, the odds for the under range from -115 to -105 so make sure to shop around for best odds if tailing the bet.
Best Pistons-Bucks Bet: Pistons Under 26.5 First Quarter Points (-105 at PointsBet).
