Toronto will catch the Clippers on the second game of a back-to-back this afternoon in The North. LA is coming off a come from behind win against Detroit last night which broke a mini two-game losing skid. Expect the Raptors to be hungry on home court where they were handled fairly easily by Milwaukee on Thursday. Toronto opens as a 10-point favorite with the total at 229 points.
Shark Bites
- Toronto is 6-0 SU and 4-2 ATS in its last six games as a double-digit favorite.
- The total has gone UNDER in 12 of LA Clippers's last 17 games.
- Toronto is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games when playing LA Clippers.
Clippers vs Raptors Game Center
Clippers Are Battling Injuries
Both Tobias Harris and Danilo Gallinari are questionable this afternoon. Harris was limited to 26 minutes last night while Gallinari was inactive. Both starters, these guys represent 39.8 points per game in the Clippers lineup and will be a massive hole to fill if both are unavailable.
Lou Williams went off for 39 off the bench last night as he continues his campaign for the NBA’s sixth man of the year.
Two of the Top Scoring Offenses in the Association
Entering play today, the Clippers and Raptors are No. 6 and No. 7 respectively in terms of scoring offense. LA is scoring half a point per game more than Toronto through 53 games played this season.
These numbers are a little deceiving, however, as when you look at the last 15 games, Toronto has the No. 8 scoring offense in the NBA and the Clippers fall all the way to No. 18 with 109.9 points per game.
When these teams met at Staples Center in December, Toronto came away with a 123-99 win and they did it without Kawhi Leonard in the lineup. Gallinari and Harris scored 11 and 10 points respectively.
My Pick For Tonight
Due to the uncertainty around the LA lineup, I’m hesitant to take a side in this one and I’m going to play UNDER 229 total points. Five of Toronto’s last seven games have gone UNDER the closing total while the Clippers have played to the UNDER in 12 of their last 17.
Given that the first meeting between these teams was well UNDER 229 points, neither offense has exactly been lighting it up lately, Detroit is on a back-to-back and it’s an afternoon game – I’m confident in betting the UNDER here.
