Boston Celtics AT Toronto Raptors
January 2nd, 2011 at 6:05 PM EST
Opening Line: Boston -5
Current Line: Boston -5.5
Opening Total: 197.5
Current Total: 197
Opening Moneyline: Boston -215 / Toronto +185
Current Moneyline:  Boston -210 / Toronto +175

Boston and Toronto enter tonight’s game with opposite trends.  Boston has won 7 of their last 10; Toronto has lost 7 of their last 10.  They’ll try to right the ship at home where they are a nearly respectable 7-9.  Boston recently lost Garnett to injury, a loss that will undoubtedly weaken their defense and hurt them on the boards.

With Garnett’s loss came the return of Jermaine O’Neal, who along with his non related buddy Shaquille O’Neal, will attempt to pick up the slack left by KG.  Toronto, too, has been missing a key player in Andrea Bargnani, who has been hampered by a calf injury and is listed as day-to-day.  DeMar DeRozan scored 37, attempting to pick up the slack, but utlimately not having their starting center is going to hurt, if only on offense.

Some betting trends:

Boston has won 15 of their past 18 games and are 1-4 ATS in their last 5.  The total has gone UNDER in 5 of their past 6 games and they are 7-2 on the road over their past 9.  They are 11-4-1 ATS over their last 16 in Toronto and the total has gone OVER In 5 of their last 5 against the Raptors. They have won 9 of their last 10 against Toronto and and the total has gone over in 4 of the last 5 road games in Toronto.  Boston has also won 6 of their last 7 in Toronto.

Toronto has lost 4 of their last 5 and are 1-3-1 ATS in those games.  The total has gone OVER in 4 of their last 5 at home and they have lost 5 of their last 6 at home, and they are 1-5 ATS in those 6 games.

Key matchups:

Nate Robinson vs.  Jose Calderon

Ah, the tourtise and the hare.  Nate Robinson could probably run the length of the court twice in the time it takes Calderon to do so once, but Calderon isn’t a bad player.  He’s just going to get destroyed by Robinson on defense.  He has absolutely no chance at stopping him from getting into the paint at will or from stopping him from getting a lot of offensive boards.  Calderon has been effective distributing the ball, which is his forte, but he can’t create his own shots and will struggle to get open looks against Rondo.

Ray Allen vs. DeMar DeRozan

DeRozan doesn’t do much other than score, but he does it well.  He put up 37 last game and has the ability to run the court with the best of them and can finish very well.  Ray Allen will likely show him a thing or two about how to play defense around picks as DeRozan will have a tough time preventing Ray Allen from getting a lot of open jumpers.  It should be an interesting battle between the young and the old, but expect Ray’s veteran savvy to get the better of DeRozan tonight.

This game probably won’t be as close as This game probably won’t be as close as NBA oddsmakers have predicted.  While losing KG hurts, Boston still has superior depth and talent to the Raptors and are very good on the road (11-5).  Look for Boston to wear down Toronto as the game goes on; Toronto just doesn’t have the depth to match it.

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