Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
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Charlie Grant
The Raptors are leaking confidence and their once all but certain position at the top of the Eastern Conference is tenuous to say the least. Toronto looks to end a nine-game ATS losing streak when it hosts the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Two weeks ago, the Dinos were at the tail end of an 11-game win streak and a period where they’d won 18 of 19 games. Toronto was the talk of the league and one of the best spread bet teams in the Association. Fast forward to now and the Raptors are 0-9 against the spread in their last nine and 40-37 ATS on the season.
Maybe the most damaging stat out there: the Raps are 33-2 (straight up) against below .500 teams and 22-20 against above .500 sides.
The Celtics are riddled with injuries but are still staying competitive and winning a lot of games. They lost on Tuesday to the Milwaukee Bucks but still covered the spread as 4.5-point underdogs. Boston is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games and a league best 48-27-2 ATS overall this campaign.
Boston Celtics
It’s getting awfully crowded in the C’s training room these days and all these injuries have depleted the point guard depth chart on the club. Last night against Milwaukee, Boston was forced to start Kadeem Allen, a two-way contract guy who had played only 39 minutes in the league before last night, because of the long list of medical issues at the guard position.
All-Star Kyrie Irving is out as is Marcus Smart, who can play point in a pinch. The C’s didn’t backup Terry Rozier or third-string point guard Shane Larkin last night because of injuries. Both players are questionable to play against the Raptors.
Toronto Raptors
Toronto would love to see Kyle Lowry snap out of his recent shooting slump. The All-Star point guard is 3-for-17 from 3-point land in the last two games and the Raptors are 27 percent as a team from deep during the two-game skid.
The Drakes are two games up on the Celtics with just five games left on their schedule. The lead shrinks to one game obviously if the C’s come out on top on Wednesday. Boston would gain a tie-breaker edge over Toronto should Brad Stevens’ crew pull off the upset tonight. The Celtics would win the season series 3-1 against the Raptors with a victory Wednesday – meaning they would get the first seed if the two sides finished with identical records.
