It’s been a promising start to the season by the young Cleveland Cavaliers. They’re coming off an impressive home win over the Portland Trail Blazers in which they never trailed in the 2nd half. Jarrett Allen had an impressive stat line of 24 points and 17 rebounds. Rookie sensation Evan Mobley added 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Colling Sexton and Darius Garland both scored 21 and 19 points. It was Cleveland’s 5th game of their West Coast road trip and they are coming back with 3 wins and 2 losses, beating really good teams like the Nuggets and Clippers. One cause for concern for the Cavaliers will be their form against opponents from the Atlantic Division – they’ve gone just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 such games.
While still adjusting to life without Kyle Lowry, the Toronto Raptors have found their groove by the looks of it. Fred VanVleet had 33 points and OG Anunoby added 21 as Canada’s only team beat the Washington Wizards 109-100. It was their 5th straight win which is their longest win streak in two seasons and they are doing all this by playing really well on the defensive end. Toronto ranks in the top five in defensive rating while allowing just 102.4 points per 100 possessions. They are doing this without their leading scorer Pascal Siakam who is still out with an injury, but should be back soon. Raptors have covered the spread in 4 of their last 5 games and are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 against teams from the Eastern Conference.
Despite their hot start to the season, I’m still not sold on the young Cavaliers. After all they’ve yet to even sniff the playoffs with this core, the inexperience will catch up to them eventually. Toronto simply has too many seasoned veterans, especially in the backcourt, the Cavs duo of Sexton and Garland could be in for a long night. I’m taking the Raptors at home in this one.
Raptors -5.5 Point Spread available at 10/11 odds on bet365!
Nick Nurse’s team has been getting a lot of praise for their play on the defensive end so far this season and that’s with a good reason. They rank 4th in points allowed this season averaging just 100.2 per game. The Cavaliers aren’t far behind allowing 104.9 per game which ranks them 9th on the list. Cleveland is also among the better teams when it comes to defending the three-point line. Currently their opponents are shooting just 32.9% from deep which is 8th in the NBA. Both teams are in the bottom 3rd of the NBA when it comes to pace of play, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a more half court oriented approach from both teams. Cleveland’s last 6 of 7 games have all finished under the total, look for that trend to continue tonight. Back the under.
Under 211 Total Points is available at 10/11 odds on Bet365!
