Portland Trail Blazers vs. Toronto Raptors Prediction, NBA Odds
The Raptors razor-thin play-in tournament hopes were officially extinguished with a 137-118 loss in Chicago on Tuesday, so the best strategy for Toronto for the rest of the season is to lose as many games as possible. Thursday’s the perfect time to enact that plan as the Portland Trail Blazers still have a shot at the play-in after a 127-113 win in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Portland is a 4.5-point favourite to win on the NBA odds, with the total pegged at 224.5.
Trail Blazers vs. Raptors NBA Betting Odds
These teams just met in Portland on March 16, with the Trail Blazers riding to a 105-102 victory. Rip City is aiming to sweep the season series for the second year in a row and the fourth time in the last five seasons.
With Toronto already eliminated from reaching the play-in tournament, Portland obviously has a lot more at stake in this game. The Trails Blazers are 3.5-games back of Sacramento for the last play-in spot in the West and they’d still have to leapfrog Phoenix to grab it.
The Raptors haven’t stacked up dubs in the standings, but they’ve done right by bettors, going 47-29 against the spread, including 24-14 ATS at home. Portland is a solid 42-34 ATS overall and they’ve covered in five of their last six games in Toronto.
When it comes to totals betting, four of the last five head-to-heads have finished below the number, so you might not want to count on a high scoring game on Thursday.
Portland Trail Blazers
Shaedon Sharpe and Deni Avdija led the way as the Trail Blazers snapped a four-game losing skid on Tuesday. Sharpe finished with a game-high 33 points and 10 rebounds, while Avdija put up a triple-double of 32 points, a game-high 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Toumani Camara added 18 points and Donovan Clingan and Dalano Banton each had 11. Portland had a 66-58 edge in the paint against Atlanta, which has been key this season. The Trail Blazers are the second-best offensive rebounding team in the NBA, averaging 13.1 offensive rebounds per game.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors were straddling the line between play-in team and tanking team, but now that they are officially eliminated, you can bet they’ll go hard for the tank. Immanuel Quickley and Ja’Kobe Walter paced the team with 17 points each on Tuesday, but Scottie Barnes had just nine points, while RJ Barrett and Ochai Agbaji didn’t play due to rest. You can expect a lot of Toronto’s starters to miss games down the stretch due to “rest”, so keep a close eye on lineups.
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