Halftime Report
Down five at the end of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers now have the lead. A win is still up for grabs for either team after two quarters, but the Trail Blazers are up 64-61 over the Bucks. The finale is shaping up to be a lot like these teams’ last head-to-head, which was decided by just three points.
If the Trail Blazers keep playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 18-29 in no time. On the other hand, the Bucks will have to make due with a 26-19 record unless they turn things around (and fast).
Who’s Playing
Milwaukee Bucks @ Portland Trail Blazers
Current Records: Milwaukee 26-18, Portland 17-29
How To Watch
- When: Tuesday, January 28, 2025 at 10 p.m. ET
- Where: Moda Center at the Rose Quarter — Portland, Oregon
- TV: Max
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $19.00
What to Know
Having just played yesterday, the Milwaukee Bucks will head out on the road to face off against the Portland Trail Blazers at 10:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. The Trail Blazers have the home-court advantage, but the Bucks are expected to win by six points.
On Monday, the Bucks strolled past the Jazz with points to spare, taking the game 125-110. Milwaukee pushed the score to 100-80 by the end of the third, a deficit Utah cut but never quite recovered from.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead the Bucks to victory, but perhaps none more so than Giannis Antetokounmpo, who dropped a double-double on 35 points and 18 rebounds. The game was Antetokounmpo’s seventh in a row with at least 30 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Damian Lillard, who went 14 for 22 en route to 35 points plus eight assists and five rebounds.
Even though they won, the Bucks struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only five offensive rebounds. They were destroyed by their opponents in that department as the Jazz pulled down 15.
Meanwhile, after a string of four wins, the Trail Blazers’ good fortune finally ran out on Sunday. They fell 118-108 to the Thunder. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Portland in their matchups with Oklahoma City: they’ve now lost 11 in a row.
Despite their defeat, the Trail Blazers saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Deni Avdija, who went 9 for 16 en route to 28 points plus eight assists and eight rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. The dominant performance gave Avdija a new career-high in assists. Toumani Camara was another key player, shooting 5-for-5 from beyond the arc and almost dropping a double-double on 24 points and nine rebounds.
Milwaukee has been performing incredibly well recently as they’ve won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 26-18 record this season. As for Portland, their loss dropped their record down to 17-29.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday’s contest: The Bucks have been dynamite from deep this season, having nailed 38.8% of their threes per game. It’s a different story for the Trail Blazers, though, as they’ve only made 34% of their threes this season. Given the Bucks’ sizable advantage in that area, the Trail Blazers will need to find a way to close that gap.
The Bucks couldn’t quite finish off the Trail Blazers when the teams last played on January 4th and fell 105-102. Can the Bucks avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.
Odds
Milwaukee is a solid 6-point favorite against Portland, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Bucks as a 6.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 229.5 points.
See NBA picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.
Series History
Milwaukee has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Portland.
- Jan 04, 2025 – Portland 105 vs. Milwaukee 102
- Jan 31, 2024 – Portland 119 vs. Milwaukee 116
- Nov 26, 2023 – Milwaukee 108 vs. Portland 102
- Feb 06, 2023 – Milwaukee 127 vs. Portland 108
- Nov 21, 2022 – Milwaukee 119 vs. Portland 111
- Feb 14, 2022 – Portland 122 vs. Milwaukee 107
- Feb 05, 2022 – Milwaukee 137 vs. Portland 108
- Apr 02, 2021 – Milwaukee 127 vs. Portland 109
- Feb 01, 2021 – Milwaukee 134 vs. Portland 106
- Jan 11, 2020 – Milwaukee 122 vs. Portland 101
