Atlanta Hawks vs. Toronto Raptors Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
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Charlie Grant
The Raptors return home licking their wounds after an embarrassing two-game road swing that brought back old frustrations about the franchise. Toronto tries to shake off the holiday blues by taking down the cellar-dwelling Atlanta Hawks.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Toronto dropped to 11-9 on the road and 23-10 on the season following Wednesday night’s 17-point loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma City. The Raptors are now 19-14 against the spread on the year with a 16-17 over/under record.
The Hawks are coming off a 113-99 win over the Washington Wizards and are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 contests. Atlanta owns the league’s worst record in the league at 9-25 but the club is 19-14-1 ATS on the campaign. The Dinos demolished the Hawks 112-78 back in November at Atlanta and covered easily as 6.5-point favourites.
Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta is in a rebuilding year but the club still plays hard and runs a proper offense. The Hawks are well coached and the staff is doing a great job harnessing the lightning inside speedy point guard Dennis Schroder. He leads the team in scoring (19.9 ppg) and assists (6.7 apg), and is cutting down his turnovers from 3.3 a night last year to 2.5 this season.
Taurean Prince and John Collins are the other bright spots for the Hawks. Prince is a lanky and active forward and shooting over 40 percent from 3-point land while Collins, a rookie, is rebounding menace.
Toronto Raptors
Toronto’s struggles away from the ACC are real and something NBA bettors should monitor closely. The Raps’ net rating (point differential per 100 possessions) is +13.5 in home games and +3.5 on the road. They allow 98.9 points per 100 possessions at the ACC and 104.8 when they’re the away team. Dwane Casey’s crew is 11-1 straight up in its own gym and 11-9 when playing as the visitor.
