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Charlie Grant
Rockets vs. Raptors Prediction: NBA Odds, Point Spread
The Toronto Raptors have Kyle Lowry back but on first look it doesn’t look like they have his jump shot back just yet. Lowry and the Raptors look to rebound from a loss earlier this week when they welcome James Harden and the Houston Rockets to the T.dot.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
The Houston Rockets are coming off a controversial two-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs in overtime. Of course, the Rockets would argue the game never should have gone to OT. The officiating crew misinterpreted a ferocious slam with a botched dunk. The blown call allowed San Antonio to come back from a double-digit deficit midway through the fourth quarter.
The Rockets were 7-point favourites in the game and the result pushed their record to 13-7 straight up and 10-10 ATS. Houston is still 7-3 against the number in its last 10 games.The club is just 4-6 ATS away from home this season and 4-16 in its last 20 trips to Toronto.
The Raptors are coming off their first home loss of the campaign. Jimmy Butler took over down the stretch on Tuesday night and the Heat won 121-110 as 5.5-point road underdogs.
Toronto still stands in first place in the Atlantic Division and tied with Miami for the second best record in the Eastern Conference at 15-5. The Dinos are 13-7 against the spread on the season and 8-1 straight up at the Scotiabank Arena.
Houston Rockets
NBA Twitter did not forget to dump on Russell Westbrook for his terrible stat line despite the blown dunk controversy in the Spurs game. Westbrook hit just seven of his 30 attempts from the field and the Rockets finished with a -8 point differential in the 48 minutes Westbrook played.
The Ringer CEO Bill Simmons pointed out that only five NBA players since 1976 have scorer fewer than 20 points in a game they took 30 or more shots. Yuck. The Rockets own a +2.2 net rating with Westbrook on the floor this season and a +12.4 rating with him on the bench. They’re essentially 10 points worse per 100 possessions with Russell than they are without him.
Toronto Raptors
Lowry played for the first time in nearly a month after suffering a thumb injury. The thumb seemed to limit his ability to shoot the rock. The All-Star point guard went 2-18 from the field including 0-for-11 from 3-point range in his first game back.
Toronto fans are hoping his thumb is feeling better and the stroke returns to Lowry on Thursday night against the Rockets.