Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors Prediction, NBA Odds
The Cavaliers should be Eastern Conference contenders again and are 5.5-point road favourites on the NBA odds.
Cavaliers vs. Raptors NBA Betting Odds
While the NBA season officially tipped off with a doubleheader on Tuesday night, most of the rest of the league begins Wednesday. It’s not often that you see a team reach the conference semifinals and fire its head coach, but that’s what Cleveland did in May by dumping J.B. Bickerstaff in a moderate surprise. Clearly the front office/ownership believed he wasn’t the coach to take Cleveland on a deep playoff run.
Bickerstaff was replaced by Kenny Atkinson, who spent the past three seasons as an assistant with Golden State and was formerly the head coach in Brooklyn from 2016-20. Those Nets played fast and shot a lot of 3-pointers – just like the 2023-24 champion Boston Celtics did — so I’d expect more of that from the Cavs this season.
Cleveland leads the all-time series 56-51 vs. Toronto and won two of three last season, going 1-1 at Scotiabank Arena. All-star Donovan Mitchell averaged just 17.0 points and centre Jarrett Allen 17.3 points and 10.0 rebounds. Scottie Barnes averaged 19.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists in the series for the Dinos. The teams have split the past 10 SU & ATS.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Other than at head coach, Cleveland is basically the same team as last season’s club that won 48 regular-season games and finished third in the East. The Cavs focused this offseason on re-signing arguably their three top players in Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley – many thought Mitchell might force a trade this summer to a big-market team like the Knicks or Lakers. Mitchell averaged 26.6 points and a career-high 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds a year ago. He and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were the only NBA players to average at least 25 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Backcourt mate Darius Garland was one of nine players to average at least 18 points, 6.0 assists and 1.3 steals. For just the second time in franchise history, Cleveland had six players average at least 12.0 PPG.
The Cavs aren’t fully healthy out of the gate with starting guard Max Strus expected to miss about six weeks with a sprained ankle. He averaged 12.2 points and 5.3 rebounds last season. Veteran Canadian forward Tristan Thompson is still on the Cleveland roster but won’t play much. The Cavs were 22-19 on the road in the 2023-24 regular season, tied for the fourth-best road record in the East and the franchise’s most road wins since 2015-16.
Toronto Raptors
Toronto closed last season on a brutal 2-19 run to end at 25-57 under first-year coach Darko Rajakovic. Those were the fifth-most losses in team single-season history. The Dinos, who set a single-season franchise record in total assists, also are largely back intact as their big moves came during last season in trading away OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam. R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley both thrived after coming over from the Knicks in the Anunoby deal, and Quickley was re-signed this offseason by Toronto. Barrett missed the entire preseason with a shoulder injury and is in doubt for Wednesday. Barrett and Raptors teammate Kelly Olynyk won a silver medal this summer with Team Canada in the Paris Olympics.
As part of that Siakam deal, the Raptors got the 19th pick in this year’s draft and took Baylor freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter, but he didn’t play this preseason due to a shoulder issue and is questionable for Wednesday. All-Star Scottie Barnes missed final 22 games of last season due to fracture of third metacarpal on left hand but is healthy now and got his huge extension this offseason.
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