Toronto at Brooklyn
Time: 7 PM ET, May 2, 2014
TV: ESPN 2
Spread: BRO -4.5
M/L: BRO -200; TOR +170
Total: 192
Betting odds courtesy of Bovada
The Toronto Raptors won a pivotal game 5 in Toronto on Wednesday night (Apr 30) to take a 3-2 lead in the best of seven series.
Toronto can close it out tonight in Brooklyn, but NBA oddsmakers are favoring the home team Nets by 4.5 points.
Kyle Lowry had an absolute monster of a game on Wed. Lowry connected on 11-of-19 from the floor (6-of-9 from three-point range) en route to 36 points and six assists. DeMar DeRozan had a nice line, too, tallying 23 points, five assists and six boards. The Raptors held a plus-3 advantage on the boards and kept its turnovers down (11).
Joe Johnson was really the only Net to show up in game 5. Johnson scored 32 points on 14-of-24 shooting. The Nets shot the ball well as a team (53.3 percent field goal) and connected on 11-of-23 from the three-point line, but the defense was porous and the Nets had 14 turnovers. Brooklyn outscored Toronto 44-24 in the final quarter, but was unable to erase a 23-point deficit.
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were both relatively uninvolved in game 5. Combined, the tandem attempted just nine shots and scored 14 points. The Nets need more from its veteran leaders.
Shaun Livingston has added some more ball handling to the starting lineup, and the Nets opted to go with Pierce, Deron Williams, Livingston, Joe Johnson and Garnett. It’s not a big lineup, but every player is capable offensively. Brooklyn would be a much tougher team if Brook Lopez were healthy.
BETTING TRENDS
TOR Trends: OVER 5-0 in last 5 Friday games; OVER 7-1 in last 8 when opponent scores 100 or more in previous game; OVER 7-1 in last 8 following SU win.
BRO Trends: UNDER 6-0 in last 6 after scoring 100 points or more in previous game; 0-5 ATS in last 5 home games; 0-3-1 ATS in last 4 games following ATS win.
Head-to-head: OVER 5-1 in last 6 meetings in Brooklyn; Raptors 3-1-1 in last 5 meetings in Brooklyn; OVER 5-2 in last 7 meetings.
