Wizards vs. Raptors Point Spread: NBA Odds, Prediction
The Toronto Raptors welcome the tanking Washington Wizards for the final meeting of the season on Wednesday night.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
This season has been nothing short of a disaster for the Wizards, who thought they were Eastern Conference contenders entering it. Frankly, it’s amazing Coach Scott Brooks still has his job. The Wizards lost All-Star point guard John Wall to season-ending heel surgery in late December, and then recently got horrible news in that Wall tore his Achilles’ tendon while slipping and falling at his home. A torn Achilles is a worse injury than a torn ACL, and Wall might miss all of next season too.
At the trade deadline, the Wizards essentially waived the white flag on the season and saved some money by sending Otto Porter to Chicago and Markieff Morris to New Orleans. Washington is still in sniffing distance of the East’s final playoff spot, but the front office certainly would prefer to land in the draft lottery and almost surely will get their wish.
Toronto looks for the four-game season sweep of the Wizards and has won the past four in the series overall. They last met on Jan. 13 in Washington and the Raptors won a wild 140-138 double-overtime affair. Serge Ibaka’s three-pointer with 15 seconds left in the second OT was the winner. Kawhi Leonard had 41 points and 11 rebounds. All-Star Bradley Beal had a triple-double of 43 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds. He forced both overtimes with jumpers. Beal is a great player but there’s not much left around him now.
Washington is 0-5 against the spread (ATS) in its past five trips to Toronto.
Washington Wizards
Washington had a two-game winning streak (against two of the NBA’s worst teams) end in a 121-112 loss in Detroit on Monday. Beal had 32 points and 10 assists, while Bobby Portis, acquired from the Bulls in the Porter trade, had 24 points. Jabari Parker, who also came in that deal, was scoreless in 20 minutes. The Wizards were without starting guard Tomas Satoransky as his wife was set to have a baby. Not clear if he will return for this one, but with the All-Star break up next it wouldn’t seem likely. Chasson Randle started in his place and had five points in 19 minutes. Washington is 1-5 ATS in its past six games playing on one day of rest.
Toronto Raptors
Toronto won its fifth in a row Monday, 127-125 over Brooklyn. Leonard hit the tiebreaking bucket with 4.2 seconds left and finished with 30 points and eight assists. Ibaka had yet another double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. In his first home game as a member of the Raptors, Marc Gasol had 16 points and six rebounds off the bench. With backup point guard Fred VanVleet expected to miss at least three weeks due to a thumb injury, Patrick McCaw saw his most time as a Raptor with 20 minutes and had 13 points. Toronto is expected to add Hawks point guard Jeremy Lin after he was bought out by Atlanta, but it’s not yet clear if Lin will be ready to join the team by Wednesday. The Raptors have failed to cover their past nine following a game in which they scored at least 125 points.
