NBA Odds – Philadelphia 76ers at Toronto Raptors Live Betting
We expected the Philadelphia 76ers at Toronto Raptors to be at the top of the Eastern Conference standings and that’s exactly where they are two months into the season.
The Toronto Raptors own the best record in the NBA and they have nearly all season, but they will have to hold off the Philadelphia 76ers and quite possibly another team or two down the road. The Sixers made a move a few weeks ago to strengthen their position acquiring Jimmy Butler, and the deal has paid off with eight wins in 10 games. Now, can Buckets deliver Philly its first win north of the border in six years? We’ll find out on Wednesday when the East heavyweights collide in the first part of ESPN’s doubleheader.
Philadelphia 76ers at Toronto Raptors
Date and Time: Wednesday, December 5, 2018, 8 p.m. ET
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON
Opening NBA Odds: (Check Back Later)
76ers at Raptors TV Coverage: ESPN
Odds Analysis
Get the Sixers out of Philly and the odds of beating them increase dramatically. They are just 4-7 SU and 3-8 ATS on the road this year, but the Sixers will take a two-game road winning streak into Ontario’s capital. The teams meet for the second time with both on the Raps’ home floor. Toronto won the first meeting, 129-112, at the end of October covering the spread and cashing the over. It was Toronto’s 12th straight home win over their Atlantic Division rival.
Recently
The Sixers had a chance to improve their club and they went for it by swinging a deal with the Wolves for Butler, and so far it looks like a genius move. The Sixers are 8-2 since the trade and Butler has helped cure some of the team’s road woes. He hit the game-winning shot at Brooklyn in a stirring comeback win and drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer in Charlotte for an overtime victory prior to that. Butler has played a major role in half the team’s road wins and he’s been with them for just about three weeks.
When he’s not being the hero with game-winning shots, Butler is paying close attention to his defensive skills. Known to be one of the better defenders during his time in Chicago, he’s helped turn the Sixers around in his brief tenure. They rank 21st in scoring defense, but that’s an improvement from where they were prior to his arrival. The Sixers held their last three opponents to fewer than 100 points, matching their total from the first 22 games.
The Raptors were cruising along on an eight-game winning streak, which was their third of at least six games already. But they ran into a buzz-saw named Nikola Jokic on Monday and his triple-double doused the run. You can’t win them all and the Raps will certainly take their 20-5 record at this point. What they need to avoid is having that loss snowball into another loss and then another.
That’s what happened last month after starting the season with 12 wins their first 13 games. The Raptors dropped a game to the Pelicans and followed that with two more defeats. Three of their five losses came consecutively and that can easily bring a team back to the pack. Toronto’s strong bench can certainly help avoid a long losing streak and the Raps rely on a rotation of five players who average over 14 minutes, so there isn’t much drop off in production from the starters.
Last Meeting
The Raptors got the win, their 12th straight at home over the Sixers, last month, but Philly will have a different look this time around. That comes in the form of Butler, who wasn’t with the club in the earlier meeting. Kawhi Leonard had his way with the Sixers scoring 31 points. It was an all-around solid performance by the Raptors with all five starters scoring double figures. They shot 51 percent from the floor and forced 23 Philly turnovers. Joel Embiid did his typical work with a double-double of 31 points and 11 rebounds.
76ers at Raptors Live Betting
With Butler on the floor the Sixers are that much better in every aspect of the game. They are more efficient on offense and they’ve turned a corner defensively. I do anticipate the Raptors shooting the ball much better than they did against the Nuggets on Monday. That pitiful display had more to do with the loss than Jokic. But they will have to work for their points. I can see this game playing below the total, but look for Leonard to handle the Raps scoring and Embiid is a virtual lock for another double-double on the live betting lines at BookMaker.eu.
NBA ATS Pick: Raptors 110, 76ers 103
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