Charlie Cummings gives his prediction and pick for Saturday’s NBA matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Milwaukee Bucks.

The NBA playoffs are almost upon us. The San Antonio Spurs are in a heated race for the top overall seed in the postseason, and need to stick to their winning ways. Winners of 12 of their last 13 games, winning hasn’t been a problem. Can they keep rolling over a Bucks team that is waving the white flag on the season? Or will Milwaukee dig deep to pull an upset in this Saturday matinee?

San Antonio is an 18.5-point home favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, while Milwaukee sits as a +1000 underdog. The total is set at 226.5 points.

Let’s get into a prediction and pick for Saturday’s matchup between the Spurs and Bucks.

Spurs vs. Bucks preview

This season has heralded the true arrival of Victor Wembanyama. Healthy at last and surrounded by a great team, Wembanyama is putting up numbers few have ever seen before. San Antonio has won the last 12 games that Wembanyama has started, and his stats are eye-popping over that stretch: 26.1 points per game, 11.3 rebounds per game, and a whopping 4.0 blocks per game. When he’s cooking on both ends of the floor, there is nothing you can do about it.

Luckily for Wembanyama and the Spurs, the rest of the team is getting healthy as the playoffs approach. De’Aaron Fox is over his back injury and will return to the lineup on Saturday. Key pieces like Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell have healed up at the right time. It’s a team primed to compete for a title.

Milwaukee’s injury report has beckoned a lot of scrutiny. The shutdown of Giannis Antetokounmpo has raised many questions and surely hasn’t helped their relationship with the disgruntled superstar. It has also sent a clear message about their goals for the rest of the season; with no incentive left to win, Milwaukee has lost 12 of its last 15 games.

Kevin Porter Jr.’s absence literally adds insult to injury. One of the only players on the team who can create shots from the perimeter, it puts even more pressure on younger players to get the ball moving. Not ideal for head coach Doc Rivers when he’s trying to put together a lineup.

This spread is massive for a reason. Does Milwaukee stand a chance here? Or will the Spurs continue their winning ways?

Spurs vs. Bucks pick, best bet

March is when the gaps between the good and bad NBA teams seem enormous. The Spurs are fully healthy and putting everything they have into stacking wins, while the Bucks are doing everything in their power to keep losing. That makes these games awfully hard to handicap. Even at a near 20-point spread, I feel strongly that San Antonio will cover. They will annihilate this Bucks team on the defensive end and have a slew of scoring talents to throw at them. It’s an overwhelming talent gap.

Best Bet: San Antonio Spurs -18.5 (-110)