New York Knicks vs. Toronto Raptors Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
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Charlie Grant
The injury-depleted New York Knicks limp into Toronto with as many as three starters out of action including franchise player Kristaps Porzingis. The Raptors look to walk over their wounded visitors.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The Raptors netted one of their best wins of the season by downing the East-leading Boston Celtics 111-91 at the ACC. It was the club’s third straight win and pushed its season record up to 37-16 straight up and 29-24 against the spread. Toronto has outscored its opponents by 60 points over the three-game win streak. The Raps own the league’s best home record at 22-4 SU and are 4-1 ATS in their five games at the ACC. The Knicks are coming off a 103-89 home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and are averaging just 87 points over their last four contests. New York is 23-32 SU and 28-27 ATS on the campaign and just 7-21 SU away from Madison Square Garden. The under is 6-0 in the Knicks’ last six games and 27-28 overall this season.
New York won the last encounter against the Raptors back in November but that was with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Porzingis combining for 60 points. Toronto likely won’t have to worry about those two on Thursday.
New York Knicks
The pillows are still wet in the New York area from the tears of Knicks fans mourning the loss of Porzingis’ season. The sweet-shooting 7-footer is out for the year following a torn ACL injury suffered during Tuesday’s game against the Bucks. Porzingis is the lone bright spot on an otherwise non-descript roster. He leads the club in scoring at 22.7 points per game and is one of the league’s premier shot-blockers at 2.4 swats a night. Of course Porzingis isn’t the only New York starter who could be missing against Toronto. Hardaway Jr. and Enes Kanter are both iffy to suit up because of various injuries. The Knicks will be without their three top scorers if Hardaway and Kanter sit out.
Toronto Raptors
Tuesday’s win over the Celtics puts the Raptors just one game back of the top overall seed in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors are in the top five in offensive and defensive rating; NBA.com writer John Schuhmann pointed out on Twitter that there have been 35 teams to do finish in the top five in both categories over the last 40 years. Of those 35 teams, 27 of them made it to the conference finals.
