Cleveland at Toronto
Time: 7 PM CT (TNT)
Spread: CLE -3.5
Total: 220.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
Cleveland has welcomed Isaiah Thomas back to the court, and the 5-foot-9 primary acquisition in the Kyrie Irving deal has started hot. He’s tallying 15 points per game in just 19 minutes a night, and he has already started twice. The Cavaliers will travel to face the Toronto Raptors as 3.5-point favorites in the first of a Thursday night TNT double header.
Since Thomas’ return, the Cave gone gone just 1-2, losing to both Boston and Minnesota, while defeating the Orlando Magic 131-127 in between. In the win over Orlando, Thomas had 19 points and four assists while hitting 7 of 13 from the field in just 21 minutes as a starter. As he rounds into form, expect it to add another dimensions to the Cavaliers offense. He can create, both for others, and has little trouble getting his high-arcing jumper over (much) bigger defenders.
Thomas is a premier scorer playing alongside one of the best passing forwards in the Game in LeBron James, and the biggest beneficiary may end up being Thomas’ efficiency. He is going to find plenty of open looks as defenses collapse on James, and the Cave still have Kevin Love’s accuracy, as he dialed up six made threes and scored 27 points in 28 minutes. The Cavs, make no mistake, still have three premier options within their offense, nightly. When J.R. Smith and Jeff Green are at their best, the bench is adequate. Cleveland will be there, even if it is trailing both Boston and Toronto in the standings currently.
Toronto has won 7 of its past10 to improve to 28-11 on the season. However, it is difficult to read too much into Toronto’s regular season successes given their annual flop fest in the postseason. Will this year be any different?
DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry should both be All-Stars once again. DeRozan is averaging 24.7 points per game and Lowry is good for 16 points, six rebounds and seven assists per contest. Serge Ibaka, despite having declined defensively, is a serviceable 4-man and is good for 14 points and six rebounds a night. Jonas Valanciunas has declined some this season but is still averaging 10.6 points and 7.7 rebounds while coming up with just over a block/steal combined per game.
The Raptors average 111.5 points per game and have a deep rotation that can realistically go 12 players deep. Even at the bottom of its rotation is the serviceable big men Pascal Siakem and Jakob Poeltl. Toronto has depth aplenty, but we have seen this team look well composed only to receive mediocre performances from its top-two players in the playoffs. Expect Toronto to continue to defend its homecourt, and prevail despite being listed as 3.5-point underdogs. The M/L is favorable.
ATS TRENDS
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| Toronto | |
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OU TRENDS
| Cleveland | |
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| Toronto | |
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HEAD TO HEAD
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