The Toronto Raptors will be on the road when they face the Orlando Magic on Friday 12/28/18.
The league leading Raptors are coming off a win over the Miami Heat while the Magic lost to the Phoenix Suns in overtime during their last outing.
The Toronto Raptors play their third straight road game on Friday night. Toronto lost to the Philadelphia 76ers 101-126 to open their current trip and the Raptors bounced back with a 106-104 win over the Heat. Kawhi Leonard, who missed the 76ers game, returned to score 30 points on Wednesday as Toronto improved their NBA best record to 26-10 on the season.
Leonard is having a fantastic season for Toronto. The former Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year winner is averaging 26.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game to lead the Raptors. Kyle Lowry has seen his scoring production drop to 14.4 points per game this season but he leads the Raptors with 9.8 assists per game. Pascal Siakam has emerged as an offensive threat and is scoring 14.7 points along with 6.4 rebounds and 1.09 steals per game.
The Raptors are 7th in the league in scoring at 114.1 points per game and are 16th in passing at 24.3 assists per game. Toronto also ranks 14th off the glass with an average of 45.3 rebounds per game. The Raptors hold their opponents to just 107.5 points per game which is the 8th best scoring defense in the NBA this season.
The Orlando Magic are experiencing a disappearing act right now. They have lost four straight games and have dropped seven out of their last nine games played. Orlando is 14-19 on the season and 3rd in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast Division. Despite that, the Magic are just 2.5 games behind the 7th and 8th places in the Eastern Conference team standings.
Nikola Vucevic leads Orlando with 20.2 points and 11.8 rebounds per game while shooting the ball at a 52.3% accuracy. Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon provide him with scoring support at 15.5 and 15.3 points per game, respectively. D.J. Augustin leads the team with 4.8 assists per game while also scoring 10.8 points per game while rookie Mohamed Bamba paces the Magic with 1.3 blocks per night.
The Magic are the 4th lowest scoring team in the league at 102.9 points per game. On the other hand, Orlando allows its opponents to score an average of 107.6 points per game, which is the 7th best scoring defense in the NBA. Orlando is ranked 13th in assists at 24.5 dimes per contest and the Magic are also 25th off the glass with an average of 42.3 rebounds per game.
The Raptors and Magic have played in a total of 82 regular season games. The Raptors lead their all-time series 45-37 and have won the last five meetings between these two teams. These teams have already played once this season and this was last November 20th in Orlando where the Raptors won 93-91 behind a last second jumper from Danny Green.
Toronto is 3-2 SU in their last five games played. The Raptors are 13-6 SU on the road this season. On the other hand, Orlando is 1-4 SU in their last five games played. The Magic are 8-11 SU in 19 home games played this season. Head to head, the Raptors are 8-2 SU in their last 10 meetings.
The Raptors are the best team in the league right now and the Magic are well, still struggling to find the formula to become a playoff contender. Toronto also has the edge over the Magic because they have a superstar in Kawhi Leonard who can take over games. However, the issue here is Toronto’s health as they may be playing without several key players.
Serge Ibaka missed their last game with a knee injury while Kyle Lowry has been ruled out of playing in this game with a back issue. Jonas Valanciunas recently had thumb surgery and has missed the last four games. With three key players out, surely the Magic will find opportunities to pull of the upset here.
But not only do the Magic not have a go-to guy like Leonard, they are also not playing well as of late. The Magic have been below average at home while the Raptors have been impressive on the road this season. For as long as Kawhi plays, the outcome here is without doubt. We’re picking the Toronto Raptors to beat the Orlando Magic on 12/28/18.
The Raptors are 1-5 ATS in their last six games played and Toronto is 1-4 ATS in their last five games on the road. Meanwhile, the Magic are 1-4 ATS in their last five games played. Orlando is also 8-3-1 ATS in their last 12 games against Toronto. The Magic are also 6-2 ATS in their last eight meetings against the Raptors.
Orlando is 1-5 ATS in their last five games after an ATS loss and also 1-5 ATS in their last five games after an SU loss. Toronto still has plenty of firepower even without Lowry. With Leonard playing this game, I think the visitors have more than enough to cover the spread. Prediction: Raptors -6
The total has gone over in four out of the last six games played by the Raptors. The over is 4-2 in Toronto’s last six road games. The total has gone under in 20 out of the 33 games played by the Magic and the under is 11-8 in their 19 home games. Head to head, the under has hit in 9 out of their last 13 meetings. The Raptors and Magic have seen the the under hit in all of their last five head to head games held in Orlando.
The under is 8-3 in Toronto’s last 11 games against teams with a losing SU record. The under is also 7-3 in the Raptors’ last 10 games after scoring more than 100 points in their previous game. Orlando is 4-1 in their last five against Atlantic Division teams and 4-0 ATS in their last four games played on a Friday. They have played to the under in their last five meetings in Orlando. Give me a sixth straight. Prediction: Under 209
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