The NBA has always prided itself on being a part of its fans' Christmas Day traditions and a full day of basketball will begin on Tuesday morning with the Milwaukee Bucks traveling to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks. Tip off is scheduled for noon ET and Milwaukee is a 10-point favorite with the total set at 228 in the latest Bucks vs. Knicks odds. On paper, it looks like a tough matchup, with the Knicks at 9-25 and the Bucks at 22-10 as the current No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. However, New York has a home win over Milwaukee from earlier in the season. Which is exactly why you should check out the Bucks vs. Knicks picks from SportsLine handicapping legend Micah Roberts before making your own selections.

Roberts has worked in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry for 20 years, including a 13-year run as Station Casinos' book director. Armed with an unmatched network of sources, Roberts has covered the Las Vegas sports betting industry for VegasInsider.com, Gaming Today, and Sporting News.

The veteran NBA handicapper is on a red-hot 11-4 streak on against the spread picks in the NBA, and he's 3-1 on his last four Bucks picks. That includes nailing the Golden State Warriors to cover as 1.5-point underdogs in Milwaukee earlier this month. They went on to win outright 105-95 and anyone who has been following Roberts is way up.

As the Bucks and Knicks get the NBA Christmas Day party started, Roberts knows that the key for the Bucks is their length and how they deploy it.

Antetokounmpo can and will guard every position on the floor at times, and with his athleticism at 6-foot-11, that seems to cause problems for just about everybody. But it's not just Giannis who opponents have to worry about. John Henson, Malcolm Brogdon, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton and company are all also long, and they make getting quality looks incredibly difficult.

Which is why the Bucks lead the NBA in defensive field goal percentage. Their opponents shoot just 43.5 percent from the floor, and the Knicks are 28th in the NBA with a field goal percentage of 43.9. The Bucks have a very realistic chance of holding the Knicks to 40 percent shooting or less, and if they do it would go a long way to covering the 10-point spread.

However, the Knicks won't be making things easy with the home crowd and the national TV audience.

One potential advantage for the Knicks on Tuesday could come from their bench. New York's reserves outscored Milwaukee's reserves 63-29 in their first meeting at the Garden this season, which the Knicks won 136-134 in over time.

Kevin Knox scored 26 off the bench in nearly 37 minutes of action while Damyean Dotson hit all five of his three-point attempts to finish with 21 points in 33 minutes. Knox has moved into the starting lineup now for Mario Hezonja, but if the Knicks can get another big night from Dotson or anybody else off the bench, it will certainly help level the playing field against the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Bucks.

For Bucks vs. Knicks, we can tell you that Roberts is leaning over, but his stronger play is on the spread. He has spotted a glaring trend that makes one side of the spread a must-back. You absolutely need to see it before making any picks of your own.

So who wins Bucks vs. Knicks? And what glaring trend causes one side of the spread to hit hard? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of Bucks vs. Knicks you should be all over on Christmas Day, all from the expert on an insane 11-4 NBA streak, and find out.