Charles Barkley has been revving it up in terms of getting his guarantees right, of late. Perhaps it’s not that wise to bet against him any more?
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The Milwaukee Bucks rallied to an almost wire-to-wire win at home in Game 5 against the Atlanta Hawks. Both teams were missing their best players on the night. Giannis, who’s thankfully avoided a major knee injury by the looks of it, is out with a hyperextended knee.
Playing without Trae Young brought the best out of the Hawks’ deep roster in Game 4. But there were clear signs that their offense wasn’t going to be sustainable even against a Bucks team without Giannis.
There was no deep dribble-drive penetration in Game 4, and that didn’t change in this outing. Mike Budenholzer’s Bucks were able to efficiently play in drop coverage on the pick-and-roll because Lou Will wasn’t dicing them up.
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Meanwhile, the Bucks’ offense also clicked way better at home without Giannis than on the road. Middleton and Jrue Holiday combined for 21 dimes on the night.
Though this duo’s shooting didn’t really shine through as it does on their best days, it was good enough to keep the Hawks’ help defenders honest.
Charles Barkley gets 4 straight guarantees right and NBA fans are in shock
Charles Barkley had predicted the Bucks to win the game and take the spread on the night on DraftKing’s over/under. This marks his 4th straight correct prediction, causing a meltdown on NBA Twitter.
Charles picked the Hawks’ previous 3 game outcomes correctly ahead of those games as well. His boldest bet, perhaps, was taking Atlanta on the spread in Game 4 when they started off without Trae.
Barkley was squarely on the Bucks’ hype train at the start of these playoffs. He’s been tipping Giannis to lead them to a championship all playoffs long.
It is unclear when Giannis can make a return, if at all, in these playoffs. As basketball fans who’ve seen 11 All-Stars from the past 2 seasons miss playoff games, we’d like him to be back soon. It would leave room for us to ridicule Chuck for picking the Bucks winning the title.
