The Milwaukee Bucks will host the Brooklyn Nets in an early week conference showdown. The Bucks are coming off a 96-93 win at home over the Boston Celtics while the Nets are coming off a demoralizing 114-77 loss at Washington. This will be the second time these teams have met. Milwaukee came away with a 122-118 extra time-win back in November at Brooklyn. While both teams are playing some strong basketball of late, Milwaukee has the advantage in this spot.The Bucks are the small favorites at home here and the points or worth laying in this spot.

Here are my keys to the game:

Bucks strong play at home- The Bucks have won four straight at home coming into this contest and have won seven of nine overall. Milwaukee is 13-10 at home on the season while the Nets are 10-15 on the road. Milwaukee has taken care of teams that have been below them in the standings this season with a 20-6 overall mark. It is 19-7 ATS in those games. Against the Atlantic conference, the Bucks are 8-2 SU and 7-3 ATS this season.

Tough scheduling spot for the Nets- Brooklyn has to play at Milwaukee in the front end of a back-to-back situation on the road for Monday and Tuesday. The Nets have to travel to Memphis to take on one of the best teams in the west on Tuesday. Don't be surprised if we see the Nets get caught looking forward t to that game where they could really get embarrassed if not ready for the game.

X-Factor- The Bucks youngster Giannis Antetokounmpo is on absolute fire of late. He is averaging 22.0 points and 10.7 rebounds while shooting 67.5 percent in his last three games. The 20-year-old forward had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go with 12 boards in the first game against the Nets.

Selection: This is a play on the Milwaukee Bucks. (10*)