- 1 Philadelphia 76ers vs Milwaukee Bucks: Maxey’s 60 points in two games against a Bucks team on no rest
- 2 Philadelphia 76ers: a 29-point deficit erased with a 16-0 run and a 15-0 run in the same game
- 3 Milwaukee Bucks: led at halftime in Washington, then lost the fourth quarter 38-23
- 4 Free NBA Prediction: Philadelphia 76ers vs Milwaukee Bucks
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Philadelphia 76ers vs Milwaukee Bucks: Maxey’s 60 points in two games against a Bucks team on no rest 
Tyrese Maxey has scored 60 points in Philadelphia’s first two games: 28 in a 106-100 win at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, then 32 with six assists in Thursday’s 114-106 comeback against Cleveland. The 76ers are 2-0 and play their second home game on Saturday, tip-off 7:30pm ET.
Milwaukee comes in on short rest. The Bucks host Chicago on Friday afternoon, in a game moved to 4pm ET because of Game 1 of the World Series, and then travel to Philadelphia for the second night of a back-to-back. They opened the season with a 128-116 defeat in Washington.
The two teams went in opposite directions last season. Philadelphia finished 45-37, seventh in the East, and came through the play-in against Orlando. Milwaukee finished 32-50 and 11th, then traded Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami and replaced Doc Rivers with Taylor Jenkins as head coach.
The head-to-head was one-sided. Philadelphia won all four meetings in 2025-26: 123-114 in overtime in Milwaukee on 20 November, 116-101 there on 5 December, then 139-122 and 126-106 at home on 27 January and 12 April. Those games tended to be high-scoring, with the Over landing in seven of the last nine meetings and in each of the last four played in Philadelphia.
No line had been posted when we checked, with books waiting on the result of Milwaukee’s Friday game. Philadelphia has its own back-to-back to manage, since Detroit visits on Sunday, but the 76ers had Friday off and play both games at home.
Philadelphia 76ers: a 29-point deficit erased with a 16-0 run and a 15-0 run in the same game 
Thursday’s home opener started badly. Philadelphia trailed 35-18 after one quarter, committed 14 turnovers in the first half and began 2 of 13 from three. Cleveland led by 29 late in the second quarter.
The response came in two bursts. A 16-0 run that started late in the second quarter carried into the third, and Maxey led a 15-0 run in the fourth that included seven straight points from Joel Embiid. Embiid’s jumper made it 96-95, and Jaylen Brown then scored three baskets in a row for a 102-95 lead.
The scoring came from the starting group. Maxey had 32, Embiid 24, Brown 21 and LeBron James 17 points with 10 rebounds. In New York two nights earlier, James had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists on 5-of-13 shooting, Brown added 19 with eight rebounds, and Embiid posted 13 and 11.
The shooting hasn’t been clean. Philadelphia made 11 of 40 threes at the Garden and won anyway by holding the Knicks to 37% from the field. The bench is thinner than the starting five: Simons scored 13 and Caldwell-Pope 10 in the opener, and Nick Nurse is without Dean Wade (ankle), Dominick Barlow (back), Tacko Fall (quad) and Hukporti.
Nurse has started Maxey, Edgecombe, Brown, James and Embiid in both games. That group has now beaten last season’s champions on the road and a 52-win Cleveland team at home inside three days.
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Milwaukee Bucks: led at halftime in Washington, then lost the fourth quarter 38-23 
Milwaukee’s opener was close for three quarters. The Bucks led 56-51 at halftime in Washington and were still in the game going into the fourth, which the Wizards won 38-23. Anthony Davis finished with 34 points and 12 rebounds against them.
Free throws made the difference. Washington went 32 of 41 from the line against Milwaukee’s 19 of 23, and that offset a night when the Wizards made only 6 of 28 threes. The Bucks shot 45.1% from the field and 15 of 41 from deep, numbers that would usually be enough to stay in a game.
Tyler Herro led the way with 24 points and nine assists, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 22 points and seven rebounds. Both arrived in the Antetokounmpo trade, along with Kel’el Ware, and they’re now at the centre of what Jenkins is building.
Jenkins started Myles Turner, Herro, Jaquez, Kuzma and Rollins in Washington. There are no significant injuries, although Ament, LeVert, Markovic and Trent Jr. didn’t play in the opener.
The trends point to points. Milwaukee’s last six games as a road underdog all went Over, as did its last five on no days’ rest and its last four overall. Friday’s game against Chicago opened with Milwaukee a 1.5-point favourite and a total of 237.5.
Probable lineup Philadelphia 76ers: Tyrese Maxey, Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Joel Embiid
Probable lineup Milwaukee Bucks: Jaime Jaquez Jr., Rollins, Tyler Herro, Kuzma, Myles Turner
Free NBA Prediction: Philadelphia 76ers vs Milwaukee Bucks
Our prediction: Philadelphia 76ers to win by 6 points or more
We’d rather back a margin than a straight Philadelphia win, which is likely to be priced short once a line appears. The 76ers won the four meetings last season by an average of more than 15 points, and that was against a Milwaukee roster that still had Antetokounmpo.
The risk is Philadelphia’s own carelessness. The Sixers turned it over 14 times in one half on Thursday and made only 11 of 40 threes in New York, and Herro and Jaquez can punish a slow start. We weigh that against the schedule: Milwaukee plays on Friday afternoon, travels, and then faces a starting five that has already beaten New York and Cleveland.
Philadelphia’s top four scored 94 of its 114 points against Cleveland, and Milwaukee’s defence just gave up 128 to a Washington team that won 17 games last season. We expect the 76ers to win by six or more.
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