Raptors vs. Heat Prediction: NBA Odds, Point Spread
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Charlie Grant
There are only a handful of teams the Toronto Raptors have failed to beat this season. The Raps get a chance to remove the Heat from that exclusive group when the two Eastern Conference sides meet up for a Monday matinee.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The Raptors came away with a statement win in their first game of the restart. They took down LeBron James and the Lakers 107-92 as 2.5-point underdogs. Miami also picked up an impressive win against a high-seeded Western Conference club. The Heat buried the Denver Nuggets 125-105 as 4-point chalk.
Miami won at home 84-76 against Toronto the day after New Year’s Day, and the club won at Toronto at the beginning of December 121-110 in overtime. The Heat are now 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games against the Dinos and the Over is 7-1 in the last eight head-to-head matchups between the two sides.
The second seed in the conference appears to be Toronto’s to lose. The Drakes are three games up on the Celtics and 5.5 up on the Heat in the standings. Miami looks destined to finish in four or fifth in the East and will likely play the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs.
A few league trends since the opening of the bubble: Favourites are 10-8-1 against the number in 19 games. The Over is 10-9 in all contests since the restart.
Toronto Raptors
Depth is one of the main reasons for the Raptors strong season. There isn’t a top 5 talent in the league like they had a year ago with Kawhi Leonard. Their player rotation 1-through-10 is extremely reliable.
That being said, it was the starters who dominated the Lakers on Saturday night. The first five scored 92 of the Raptors’ 107 points. Kyle Lowry finished with game-highs in points (33) and, perhaps even more impressively rebounds with 14.
The bulldog point guard is now averaging 20 points per game for the season – a nearly six point improvement on last year’s average.
Miami Heat
Jimmy Butler is the main gun in Miami but he’s not the only threat for Erik Spoelstra’s group. The Heat possess one of the best two-way big men in the league in 23-year-old Bam Adebayo. The third-year pivot finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists against the Nuggets on Saturday.
The Raptors kept All-Star forward Anthony Davis under control on Saturday, but Adebayo’s passing out of the post presents a different problem.
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MIA