The Sacramento Kings come to Toronto on the back end of a back-to-back after a 29-point loss yesterday in Brooklyn. Although the Kings continue to be one of the best spread bets in the league, they are 0-7 SU and 1-6 ATS in their last seven games as the underdog. They open as 11-point dogs in frigid Toronto tonight, where the city has been under an extreme cold warning for the past few days.
- The Kings are 0-7 SU and 1-6 ATS in their last seven games as the underdog.
- The Raptors are 9-0 SU in their last nine games at home (avg. winning margin: 10.9).
- The total has gone UNDER in the Kings’ last seven games vs the Raptors (avg. combined score: 200.4).
Raptors Have Sustained Their Strong Play
Toronto started the season on fire and has been able to maintain a high level of play, despite routinely resting superstar Kawhi Leonard and missing key players from the lineup more often than not.
The Raps are on a run of nine consecutive wins on home court where they’ve defeated opponents by an average of 10.9 points and bring the NBA’s No. 6 scoring offense into the game tonight.
Something that Toronto maybe doesn’t get enough credit for is its team defense, which is ranked ninth in the league, allowing 108.3 points per game overall and marginally better at 106.8 points per game on home court.
Kings Have No. 27 Road Scoring Defense
The deficiency in the Kings’ game is likely to cost them in this game. Sacramento has the NBA’s No. 27 scoring defense at 115.2 points per game and has been riding its offense to wins instead of playing tight defensively.
With the Raptors scoring an average of 115.4 points on home court, it’s quite likely that Toronto will eclipse its season average in this one.
Toronto has found a way to score with the high-scoring teams and play tight games with the strong defensive teams. That leads me to believe we will see a bit of a shootout in this one.
My Favorite Bet for Tonight
I’m going to take OVER the team total for Toronto at 120.5. The Raptors have scored just over 117 points per game in their last 10 and, as mentioned, show an ability to play whichever way the opponent wants to.
The Kings are ranked No. 2 in pace and like to play the game at a high tempo, resulting in their 16-7 O/U record on the road this season. I think Toronto takes advantage of this and runs up its side of the scoreboard tonight.
