Toronto Raptors vs. San Antonio Spurs Prediction, NBA Odds
The also playoff-eliminated Spurs are down easily their two best players but still 5.5-point favourites on the NBA odds.
Raptors vs. Spurs NBA Betting Odds
Both teams are long eliminated from playoff contention and have nothing to play for as both are also locked into where they will slot in next month’s NBA Draft lottery with Duke freshman Cooper Flagg as the big prize. The Raptors will finish with the seventh-worst mark and have a 7.5 per cent shot at winning the lottery for the first time. The Spurs will the eighth-worst mark and have a 6.0 per cent shot at winning the lottery.
Should San Antonio do so, go ahead and hand the Spurs at least one NBA title by the end of this decade if they can put Flagg next to superstar 7-footer Victor Wembanyama and All-Star point guard De’Aaron Fox. The Spurs won the 2023 draft lottery and the right to take Wembanyama, an even more generational prospect than Flagg. Wemby has more than lived up to the hype, but he hasn’t played since the All-Star break due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. He had surgery and should be fine for the start of training camp. Fox, acquired around the trade deadline from Sacramento, was shut down not long after with tendon damage in his left pinkie finger that required surgery.
The Spurs eye the season sweep as they routed the visiting Raptors, 123-89, on March 23. San Antonio led by 20 after the first quarter and never looked back. Devin Vassell scored 25 points to lead the way. Scottie Barnes scored 22 points and RJ Barrett had 18 for Toronto, which was without starters Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl.
Despite losing the past two in the series overall, Toronto is 7-3 SU & ATS in the past 10. The over-under is 5-5.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors have a two-game winning streak snapped Friday in a 124-102 loss in Dallas – it was over at the half with the Mavericks up by 28. They blistered the Dinos 31-13 in the second quarter by shooting 65 per cent from the field, while Toronto was at just 19.4 per cent and missed all nine 3-point attempts in the quarter. The team dressed only eight players with RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley among those out.
Scottie Barnes led the way with 26 points, and Ochai Agbaji had a season-high-tying 24. The Raptors played their 39th different starting lineup of the season, setting a franchise record. Barrett, Quickley, Jakob Poeltl, Gradey Dick and Ja’Kobe Walter are out today. The team is 2-12 this season on the road against Western Conference teams. It has won three straight trips to San Antonio.
San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio lost in Phoenix on Friday, 117-98, to complete its final road trip at 1-3 – the massively disappointing Suns had lost eight in a row. Julian Champagnie led San Antonio with 23 points, while Stephon Castle had 16. Castle is going to be the NBA Rookie of the Year. The Spurs played without additional rotation guys Keldon Johnson (12.6 PPG), Devin Vassell (16.3 PPG) and Jeremy Sochan (11.4 PPG) but Johnson is off the injury report for today. He has scored at least 10 points off the bench in 47 games this year, most in the NBA and most by a Spur since 1980-81.
San Antonio is averaging 14.2 made 3-pointers per game, a franchise record. It’s possible this is the final game in the Hall of Fame career of 39-year-old point guard Chris Paul, although he has said he’d like to keep playing. It just may not be in San Antonio with Paul a pending free agent.
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