(Photo credit: Keith Allison via Foter.com / CC BY-SA)
The Toronto Raptors are in Cleveland tonight to take on King James and the Cavaliers. Toronto leads the Atlantic Division with a 21-14 mark, while Central-leading Cleveland owns the best record in the Eastern Conference (22-9).
You can watch this one tonight on SportsNet 1, beginning at 7 p.m. It’s always exciting to have some money on the game, so let’s see if we can find an edge.
Raptors at Cavaliers NBA Betting Odds
Pinnacle Sports opened the NBA betting line on this game as the Cavaliers -8, and that line hasn’t changed.
The Over/Under has seen some movement, however. It opened at 191 but had been bet up a full basket to 193 by this afternoon, and it could go even higher before opening tip.
Raptors at Cavaliers Game Preview
Toronto enters this game trying to erase the memories of a disappointing home loss to the Bulls Sunday afternoon, when the Raptors allowed Jimmy Butler to score 40 points in the SECOND HALF. Chicago shot 63.2 per cent in the fourth quarter on its way to scoring 34 points in the final frame.
The Cavaliers whipped Orlando 104-79 in their last outing Saturday. LeBron James scored 28 points in 29 minutes despite batting an illness. He isn’t expected to feel 100% for tonight’s game, either, but that might not matter.
This is a revenge game for Cleveland, which lost 103-99 at Toronto Nov. 25. The Cavs were without Kyrie Irving and several other important players in that game, when they were held to 43.9 per cent shooting.
Raptors at Cavaliers NBA Betting Pick
The Raptors have been great in an underdog role this year, going 10-4 against the spread when they are catching points. They have also covered 7 of their last 9 trips to Cleveland, and the underdog has covered 15 of the last 18 meetings in the series.
The Cavs could be motivated by last month’s loss in Toronto, but they were shorthanded for that one so we don’t expect revenge to be that much of a factor tonight. With LeBron’s uncertain health status and the Raptors’ track record in an underdog role, we like Toronto to make things interesting in this one.
Our NBA Betting Pick tonight is Raptors +8. (You can make this bet at -107 odds at Pinnacle Sports, with its reduced juice odds. You can also get -110 odds on this bet at Sports Interaction, BetOnline, Bodog or William Hill.)