Miami Heat vs. Toronto Raptors Prediction, NBA Odds
The Heat opened as short favourites on the NBA odds.
Heat vs. Raptors NBA Betting Odds
Miami made one of the biggest moves ahead of the trade deadline earlier this month by dealing extremely unhappy franchise player Jimmy Butler to Golden State for Toronto native and former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and a protected first-round pick. The Heat also landed guard Davion Mitchell from Toronto in the five-team deal.
The Heat weren’t a legitimate Eastern Conference contender with Butler and certainly aren’t at this point. But they should get back to the playoffs for a sixth straight season and are -300 to play extra basketball and +235 for no, although Miami might have to go through the East play-in tournament to get there.
Friday marks the fourth and final meeting between the Heat and Raptors with Miami leading 2-1 but having lost the one game in Toronto, 119-116 on Dec. 1. Butler played in all three and averaged 18.0 points, 4.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds. Tyler Herro is averaging a team-high 25.7 points in the season series. RJ Barrett leads Toronto in averaging 25.0 points in the series, while Scottie Barnes is at 23.5 points and 10.0 rebounds.
Toronto leads all-time 27-25 as the home team and has taken the past two. They have split the past 10 in all locations with the Raptors at 7-3 ATS.
Miami Heat
Miami entered the break on a four-game losing streak with three of those by double digits, but there were some very tough opponents in there (Celtics, Thunder and Mavericks) and the team was dealing with the whole Jimmy Butler suspension/trade aftermath. Tyler Herro had supplanted Butler as the team’s No. 1 option regardless, leads the club at 23.9 points per game and is one of the NBA’s top 3-point shooters. Herro proved that last Saturday by winning the All-Star 3-Point Contest in San Francisco. Herro, named an overall All-Star for the first time, was a steal as the No. 13 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and few teams draft better than the Heat. They got 7-footer Kel’El Ware at No. 15 overall in the 2024 draft, and he’s among the NBA Rookie of the Year favourites at +230. He wasn’t playing a ton of minutes through about mid-January but is now. Guard Davion Mitchell, acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline as part of the multi-team Butler deal, is averaging 7.7 points and 3.7 assists in three games with Miami, all starts. Per usual, the Heat are a good defensive team, going 12-0 when holding opponents under 100 points this season. Miami is 1-6-1 ATS in its past eight.
Toronto Raptors
Toronto entered the break having lost five of six. RJ Barrett returned for the finale last Wednesday, a 23-point home loss to Cleveland, after missing the previous four in the concussion protocol and had 27 points. The 24-year-old is averaging a team-best 21.7 points per game. Second-year guard Gradey Dick competed in the All-Star Rising Stars Challenge last weekend and had 12 points in his team’s loss. Last week, the Dinos signed trade acquisition Brandon Ingram to a three-year, $120 million (US) extension that will keep Ingram from free agency this summer. The former Pelicans All-Star hasn’t played since Dec. 7 due to a severe ankle sprain and isn’t expected to make his Toronto debut until early March at the earliest. Centre Jakob Poeltl has been out since Feb. 4 with a hip injury and is questionable. Toronto is 9-4 ATS in its past 13 games.
MIA
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