NBA Betting – Los Angeles Clippers at Toronto Raptors
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:40 am ESTPublished:
Los Angeles Clippers at Toronto Raptors (-2.5, 210.5)
After losing in Cleveland last night (105-94) and failing to cover the five-point spread, the Los Angeles Clippers will try to bounce back tonight when they visit the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre (7:00 p.m. Eastern).
The Clippers usually potent offense let the team down against the Cavaliers. Los Angeles shot just 41.8-percent from the floor, 5.5-percent below their season average of 47.3-percent (which is second-best in the NBA).
Despite the double-digit loss, the Clippers may have something to build on heading into tonight’s game. They were able to outscore Cleveland 31-11 in the fourth quarter, making an otherwise lopsided game look a little more respectable.
On the other side, Toronto had a dreadful time on Monday against the Bucks, losing 82-75 at home. They followed that up with another dud against the Nets (109-93, again at home).
“That was a stinker,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said after the loss to Milwaukee. “We didn’t have any energy for whatever reason.”
Point guard and All-Star Kyle Lowry has been particularly off during the last two games. The engine of the Raptors’ offense had 13 points on 5/13 shooting against Brooklyn. and he scored just two points on 1/7 shooting versus the Bucks (to go along with four turnovers to just five assists).
The Raptors’ MVP – who averages 19 points, 7.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game – will need to bounce back tonight if his team is going to have any chance against the high-scoring Clippers.
The trends don’t give us much to go on, as the teams have split their last ten head-to-head meetings. Call it a hunch, but with the Clippers tired from last night and the uber-competitive Lowry eager to put the last couple games behind him, I like the Raptors minus the points (-2.5).
(Photo credit:Â By Verse Photography (Flickr: 20131118 ClippersvGrizzles31) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
