Vegas Play of the Day: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns

By Taylor Bern

Thursday, July 16, 2015 | 10:30 a.m.

We've reset the Play of the Day with fresh bankrolls and turned it into a yearly competition. Our three sports writers have re-started with $10,000 bankrolls to continue using on odds from the South Point.

Milwaukee Bucks plus-4 vs. Phoenix Suns: $440 to win $400

I clearly don’t have a future handicapping NBA Summer League games as I’m 0-2 in the past two days, but that won’t deter me from giving it another try today. And unlike yesterday, I’m going to stick with my gut and side with Milwaukee.

The Bucks were winless in Summer League until yesterday’s 97-93 victory against Houston that wasn’t really that close until Milwaukee nearly gave the game away. Former Rebel Rashad Vaughn started heating up in the second quarter and finished with 23 points on 7-of-17 shooting.

The guy I came away most impressed with, though, was 6-foot-11, 254-pound Viacheslav Kravstov. The 27-year-old Ukrainian doesn't put up a lot of numbers, but he's a man among boys and was very effective in his 16 minutes yesterday.

I don’t know what impact this summer will have on Kravstov’s hopes to get back into the NBA — he’s played a total of 45 games, last appearing in 2014 — but he’s the type of guy I like to side with in this league. Milwaukee’s about to go on a run.

Current Standings (beginning July 1): Brewer (5-1, $11,700), Bern (1-2, $9,740), Keefer (1-5, $7,260)

Lifetime Records: 2014-15 champion Bern (86-76-1), Keefer (85-90-2), Brewer (76-90-2)

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.