NBA Basketball Betting: Toronto Raptors at Portland Trailblazers

With hockey on hiatus until Tuesday night we’ll check in on the Toronto Raptors who are having a very good season and will be playing at the Moda Center in Portland against the Trailblazers. The Raptors were the surprise team of the 2015-2016 season finishing just one game back of the Cleveland Cavaliers atop the Eastern Conference. This year has been more of the same. Following Cleveland’s win over the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day they’re at 23-6 with the Raptors at 21-8 just two games back. Cleveland has won 5 straight and 9 of 10 while Toronto has won three straight and 8 of 10. The Raptors have been excellent on the road going 10-3 away from the Air Canada Centre.

Portland was supposed to be a contender in the Western Conference this season but instead they’ve struggled mightily. They’ll enter this game having lost 5 straight and 9 of 10 and are currently in 9th place in the West one game out of the final playoff spot currently held by the Sacramento Kings. They’ve also got the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans right behind them. They could have bigger problems as superstar Damian Lillard sprained his ankle last time out. It could have been worse–X-rays were ‘negative’ and he’s listed as ‘day to day’ but the team has said that he’s ‘doubtful’ for this game.

There’s currently no line on this game pending the status of Lillard but hard to make a case for Portland. They’ve been horrible against opponents with winning records (3-11 SU/4-10 ATS) at home (5-9 ATS) and are 11-21 ATS overall. The Raptors have been tearing it up both SU and ATS. Toronto has covered 13 of their last 16 games and it’s hard to find a situational breakdown in which they haven’t dominated. They’re 20-8 ATS overall, 11-2 ATS on the road and 7-4 ATS against the Western Conference. Making things worse for Portland–they’ll catch Toronto rested after the Christmas break and the Raptors are 6-1 SU/ATS after two or more days of rest. Against good offensive teams–defined as teams scoring 99+ points per game–they’re 14-5 against the spread. Just hard to make a case for Portland given their current form and particularly against a Toronto team that has been wrecking just about every team in their path.

BET TORONTO RAPTORS OVER PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS