Toronto Raptors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Game 5 Prediction, NBA Playoff Odds
The Raptors and Cavaliers are tied up at two wins apiece as their first-round playoff series switches back to Cleveland for Game 5 on Wednesday.
Cleveland was in firm control of this series, winning the first two games by a combined 23 points.
However, the Raptors came to life at home. They won the last two contests, including a 93-89 decision on Sunday in which they smothered the Cavaliers offence.
Which version of these teams will we see in Game 5?
Cleveland is an 8.5-point favourite to win on the NBA odds, with the total set at 216.5.
Raptors vs. Cavaliers NBA Betting Odds
What a difference a few days can make. After Game 2, the Raptors headed to Toronto on a 12-game playoff losing skid against the Cavs, matching the longest streak in NBA history.
However, two wins in the Six haven’t done anything to change oddsmakers minds. The Dinos are still listed as +325 underdogs to win the series on the NBA futures board. That’s only a slight improvement from the +400 price Toronto had entering the series.
As such, Cleveland is a -425 favourite to win the series, a slight drop from their -550 pre-Game 1 price. The favoured exact series result is Cavs in six games at +130.
Now that this series is level entering Game 5, I feel much better about it going the distance. If you’re like me and expect to see seven games, but don’t want to pick a winner, you can take the Over 6.5 games at a juicy +100.
Toronto Raptors
Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram led the charge for Toronto in Game 4, with each posting a game-high 23 points. Barnes added nine rebounds and six assists, while Ingram had six boards. It was a much-needed performance from Ingram. After leading the Raptors with 21.5 points per game in the regular season, Ingram was limited to just 12.0 ppg through Games 1-3.
A win is a win, but it’s tough to overlook the ugly shooting performance from Toronto in Game 4. The Raps shot an abysmal 32 per cent from the field and managed to drop just four of 30 (13.3 per cent) three-point attempts.
One X-factor for Toronto in this series has been rookie Collin Murray-Boyles, who had a double-double off the bench on Sunday with 15 points and 10 boards. CMB is just the third rookie in Raptors franchise history to record a double-double in the playoffs and his 17.0 ppg is third on the team in the playoffs behind only Barnes (25.8 ppg) and RJ Barrett (24.3 ppg).
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers struggled to gain momentum offensively in Game 4 as Donovan Mitchell and James Harden posted team-highs of 20 points and 19 points, respectively. Jarrett Allen was a force in the paint with a game-high 15 rebounds, but he was limited to three points, shooting 1-for-5 from the field and 1-for-4 from the line.
Mitchell did his best to keep Cleveland in it on Sunday, scoring 10 points in a 13-2 fourth-quarter run that gave the Cavs the lead. However, depth outside of Mitchell and Harden was an issue, with Allen, Evan Mobley and Max Strus combining for just 12 points.
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CLE