Wizards vs. Raptors: Game 2 Prediction, NBA Playoff Odds
Now that their streak of losing the opener of a playoff series has been stopped, the Toronto Raptors look to take a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round NBA matchup Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Before we dig into Wizards-Raptors Game 2 on Tuesday night, let’s take a moment to mention what happened to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday as they were blown out at home by the Indiana Pacers. Publicly, no member of the Raptors would admit to potentially looking past Washington and what loomed as a possible date with LeBron in the conference semifinals. That said, you can be assured the Raptors noticed how thoroughly Cleveland was beaten.
That result has changed the Eastern Conference futures odds at Sports Interaction as the Cavaliers are now +200 second-favourites with the Raptors at +110. Of course, a LeBron-led team has won the East seven years in a row. Toronto would certainly be sizable series favourites were they to play the Pacers instead of the Cavs in the next round.
As for this series, Toronto took Game 1 114-106 on Saturday to just cover a 7.5-point spread. After John Wall made a layup with 21 seconds left to make it an 8-point game, the Wizards didn’t bother fouling to try and get the ball back. Surely, those bettors giving the 7.5 points were just fine with that strategy. Toronto is now -1258 on the series line with Washington at +517. Raptors winning in five is the exact series result favourite at +164. The long shot is Washington in five at +5200.
Washington Wizards
Realistically, the only way Washington wins this series is if its All-Star backcourt of Wall and Bradley Beal significantly outplays Toronto’s of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. That’s because Toronto is so much better everywhere else and significantly deeper. Saturday was Wall’s first game this season vs. the Raptors due to injury and while he did have 23 points and 15 assists, he also shot just 6-for-20 from the field. His regular-season shooting percentage was his worst since his 2010-11 rookie season. Beal was moderately disappointing with 19 points, and the Wizards were outscored by 10 with him in the court. Washington got very little from its bench other than 14 points from Mike Scott, who had been in question as he was in the concussion protocol.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors ended their 10-game losing streak in Game 1 of a playoff series, which was a dubious playoff record. On the plus side of Saturday’s win, the Toronto bench was excellent again led by 18 points and four assists in 25 minutes from Delon Wright and 12 points in 19 minutes from CJ Miles. Fred VanVleet didn’t play with a shoulder injury and is being called day-to-day. On the negative side, the postseason struggles of DeRozan and Lowry continued. DeRozan was 6-for-17 for 17 points and Lowry 4-for-9 for 11. Those types of games aren’t going to cut it very often. The Raptors can’t count on Serge Ibaka shooting 8-for-11 for 23 points every night.
