The Toronto Raptors took care of business vs the Orlando Magic while in Florida and now will look to finish them off when they take the court for Game 5 in Toronto. The Raptors have overcome a Game 1 hiccup to win three straight in this series while holding the Magic to 91 points per game. Toronto was one of the best home teams in the NBA this season and opened as a 12-point favorite with a total of 206.
STANDOUT STATS
- Coming into this series, the Raptors were one of the most balanced teams in the NBA. They ranked third in three-point percentage over the final 15 games of the season while limiting opponents to 43.3 percent from the floor. Although some of this is the Magic’s doing, the Raptors defense has been sensational in this series, limiting the Magic to 91 points per game and 38.9 percent from the field.
- The Magic were a below-average offensive team for most of the season and in Games 2 through 4, their shooting has been atrocious. They’ve averaged 31 percent from behind the arc and Nikola Vucevic has looked to be a shell of himself. He’s averaged 13 points in those games and has shot 3-for-10 from behind the arc. The Magic defense has still been solid by keeping the Raptors to 104.2 points per game but Orlando has been outscored by double digits in two of the last three outings while only putting up 91 points per game.
- When the Raptors acquired Kawhi Leonard during the offseason, they got him exactly for these moments and the seventh-year forward has not disappointed. Leonard is averaging a career high in points per game in the playoffs (28.1) while hitting 53 percent of his shots. Kawhi was especially good in Game 4 when he put up 34 points on 12-of-20 shooting to lead the Raptors to a 22-point win.
- The UNDER may be another profitable endeavor for this matchup as it’s now hit in six of the last seven games when the Magic and Raptors take the court and those games had an average combined score of 203.2. The UNDER has also hit in all four games of this series mainly because of how poorly the Magic have shot the basketball, and the average combined score for this series is 196.2.
My Best Bet for Magic vs Raptors
UNDER 206
This is risky as I think taking such a low total in an NBA game can be problematic but this total seemingly comes down to the Magic and I think their offense is trash. They don’t have a wealth of great shooters and Game 1 hero DJ Augustin has been limited to less than 10 points in their last three games. The rub here is that the Magic’s defense has still been good in this series even though their offense has disappeared. (A magic trick perhaps? Insert rim shot.)
They have limited the Raptors’ shot attempts which only helps the UNDER and with such a large spread, it wouldn’t be crazy to take the Magic spread in this spot. However, outside of Game 1, the Raptors have clearly been the better team and I don’t trust Orlando to keep fighting in the fourth quarter if they face a double-digit deficit, so count me out on trusting either team for a spread bet.
