Bucks vs Thunder Predictions, Player Props & Best Odds for NBA Cup Final

• The Milwaukee Bucks and OKC Thunder meet in the 2024 NBA Cup Final on Tuesday night in Las Vegas
• Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) is questionable for the Bucks, while Damian Lillard (calf) and Khris Middleton (illness) are both probable
• See the Bucks vs Thunder predictions, player props, and best available odds for the 2024 NBA Cup Final on Dec. 17

The second annual NBA Cup wraps up on Tuesday night with the Milwaukee Bucks (14-11, 6-0 NBA Cup, 10-14-1 ATS) facing the West-leading OKC Thunder (20-5, 5-1 NBA Cup, 16-9 ATS) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Tip-off is set for 5:40 pm PT/8:40 pm ET and, with the Bucks’ injury report listing Giannis Antetokounmpo (questionable, knee), Damian Lillard (probable, calf), and Khris Middleton (probable, illness), OKC is a five-point neutral-court favorite in Tuesday’s NBA odds.

Milwaukee Bucks vs OKC Thunder Predictions

• Bucks +5.0 (-112) at FanDuel
• Giannis Antetokounmpo over 29.5 points (-140) at ESPN Bet
  

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  Odds as of 1:03 pm ET, Dec. 17. See the best NBA betting apps to wager on the NBA Cup Final. 

While the Bucks injury report looks scare at a glance for Milwaukee bettors, it’s clear that sportsbooks aren’t putting much credence in the notion that any of the Bucks’ stars will miss Tuesday’s finale. As you’ll see in the table of player props, below, all the Milwaukee staters/rotation players are on the board, which doesn’t happen when oddsmakers are unsure whether the team’s leading scorers will be in the lineup. It exposes the books to too much risk.

So I’m operating on the assumption that Giannis, Lillard, and Middleton will all be playing.

Since a disappointing 4-9 start to the season, the Bucks have been on an absolute tear, going 10-2 SU since. While they’re only 6-6 ATS in that span, it’s not like they’ve been scraping by with narrow victories most nights. Milwaukee has an excellent +6.2 point differential in its last 12 games.

Giannis has been the biggest catalyst behind the turnaround for Milwaukee, averaging 34.4 PPG over his last ten. He’s only been held under 30 points once in those ten games, when he scored 28 points in just 28 points during a lopsided 128-107 at Detroit.

Going against the OKC defense is about as tough a task as there is in the NBA. The Thunder have an NBA-best 103.1 Defensive Rating, which would have put them first in the NBA every season since 2019-20. OKC limited Houston to just 96 points in the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday (111-96) and held Luka Doncic and the Mavs to 104 in the quarters (118-104), easily covering both games against the spread.

But I’m still taking the over on Gianni’s point total of 29.5. In seven other games against top-ten DR teams this season, he’s averaged 30.1 PPG and only been held under 30 points once (when he was limited to just 20 points in 36 minutes during a 101-100 home victory against Houston).

Giannis had exactly 30 in his only game against OKC last year, a 118-93 Milwaukee rout on March 24.

MIL vs OKC Player Props

NBA player props from DraftKings on Dec. 17.

The Bucks vs Thunder player props show some big point total on the board. Both SGA and Giannis have a point total of 31.5 with SGA a -125 favorite to go over and Giannis a -125 favorite to stay under.

Giannis also has the highest rebound total at 12.5 O/U, followed by OKC’s Isaiah Hartenstein at 11.5.

Damian Lillard leads the assist totals at 6.5 O/U with Giannis and SGA both at 5.5 O/U. Lillard is also the only player on the board with a three-point total of 3.5 O/U.

Best Bucks vs Thunder Odds

The Bucks vs Thunder spread is sitting at OKC -5.0 at most sportsbooks but ESPN Bet and BetMGM have lowered it to OKC -4.5 with a little extra juice on the Thunder to cover. The best ATS option for Bucks bettors is +5.0 (-112), which is currently available at both DraftKings and FanDuel.

Caesars has the longest odds on Milwaukee winning straight-up, setting the Bucks’ moneyline at +180. No other book has it longer than +172 at the moment. FanDuel is the only site with the Thunder moneyline (-198) south of -200.

About half the books, including ESPN Bet and FanDuel, have the game total at 215.5 (-110 odds both ways) while the other half, including bet365 and Caesars, have it at 216.0 (-110 odds both ways).