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The Washington Wizards head North to take on the Toronto Raptors at the Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night.
Avoiding A Sweep
The Washington Wizards try to avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Toronto Raptors when the two teams collide a final time in Toronto. The Wizards lost 113-117 to the Raptors in D.C. last October 20, 2018, got blown out in Toronto 107-125 on November 23 and were outlasted in double overtime 138-140 last January 13th.
With John Wall injured, Bradley Beal leads the Wizards with 25.1 points per game while also grabbing 5.1 rebounds and issuing 5.1 assists per game. Trevor Ariza is having a fine season in Washington with 15.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. Newcomers Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker are averaging 21.0 and 9.0 points per game with their new team.
The Wizards rank 8th in the league in scoring at 113.8 points per game. They are 5th in assists with 26.6 dimes per contest and Washington is also ranked 28th in rebounding at 40.8 boards per contest. The Wizards are next to last in the NBA in scoring defense at 116.7 points per game allowed.
Wizards
+500
Raptors
-650
Odds from betonline.ag as of 2/13/19
Chasing Milwaukee
The Toronto Raptors have gotten their swagger back and have now won five straight games to pull within half-a-game of the Eastern Conference leading Milwaukee Bucks. The 42-16 Raptors are coming off a close win over the Brooklyn Nets with Kawhi Leonard making the game-winning basket with 4.4 seconds left to play.
Leonard leads the Raptors with 27.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Serge Ibaka is also having an excellent season with 16.1 points and 7.9 boards per contest while Pascal Siakam has improved with his 15.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game average. Kyle Lowry leads the Raptors with 9.1 assists per game while also scoring 14.3 points per outing.
Toronto is the 6th best scoring team in the league at 114.1 points per game. The Raptors are ranked 15th in assists with 24.5 dimes per contest while they are also 16th off the glass with 45.1 rebounds per game. Toronto ranks 10th in scoring defense at 108.5 points allowed per game.
Who Wins?
Washington is 2-4 SU in its last six games played and the Wizards are 3-13 SU in their last 16 road games. Toronto is 5-0 SU in its last five games played and the Raptors are 3-1 SU in their last four home games. Head to head, the Raptors are 8-2 SU in their last 10 meetings against the Wizards.
The Wizards aren’t just without John Wall and Dwight Howard, they also played without Tomas Satoransky in their last game. The banged up Wizards have gotten valuable contributions from newcomers Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker but still don’t have enough to get things together.
The Raptors have also added a valuable piece in Marc Gasol. The big Spaniard scored 16 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in 22 minutes during his second game with the Raptors. With Kawhi Leonard also looking like he is back to 100% form, the Raptors have won five in a row and now are breathing at the necks of the Milwaukee Bucks in the team standings.
For sure, the Wizards have added interesting pieces but it’s going to take time to fully integrate the likes of Portis and Parker to their system. Toronto’s also added a key piece in Marc Gasol and they are too long, too deep and maybe too good for Washington right now. Not to mention the Raptors are playing at home.
I’m picking the Toronto Raptors to beat the Washington Wizards on 2/13/19.
Other Bets To Make
The Wizards are 2-4 ATS in their last six games played. Washington is 1-4 ATS in its last five road games played. The Raptors are 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games played and 2-2 ATS in their last four home games. Head to head, the Raptors are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 meetings against the Wizards.
Wizards
+11 (-110)
Raptors
-11 (-110)
Odds from betonline.ag as of 2/13/19
Both teams haven’t played well against the spread. Washington is 19-40 ATS in its last 59 road games and 1-5 ATS in its last six games when playing on one day rest. Toronto is 2-5 ATS in its last seven after an ATS loss and 1-5 ATS in its last six games against Southeast Division teams. No question for me who wins this game but I think the chalk is too thick here. Toronto is 8-14 ATS in their last 22 games when favored by nine or more points and seven out of the last 10 games in this series has been decided by 10 points or less.
Prediction: Wizards +11 (-110)
The under is 5-0 in the Wizards’ last five games. The total has gone over in each of the last five games played by Washington. The total has gone under in five out of the last six games played by Toronto. The under is 3-1 in the Raptors’ last four home games. Head to head, the total has gone over in six out of the last nine meetings between these two teams but the under is 13-5 in the last 18 meetings between the Wizards and Raptors in Canada.
Wizards
O 233 -110
Raptors
U 233 -110
Odds from betonline.ag as of 2/13/19
The over is 6-0 in the Wizards’ last six games and 5-0 in their last five on the road.
Washington has one of the worst defenses in the league. But on offense, they’ve shot 52% from the floor and scored an average of 125 points in their last five games. Toronto’s got good defense but will be content to win this with scoring as Washington can’t stop them on offense.
Prediction: Over 233 -110
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