The Philadelphia 76ers (49-30) head north of the border Thursday to play the Toronto Raptors (46-33). Tip-off at Scotiabank Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the 76ers vs. Raptors odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions and bets.
As of Wednesday’s games, Philly would meet Toronto in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with the Sixers as the 4-seed hosting the 5-seed Raptors.
Philly has won three in a row following a three-game losing skid and is just 1-5 against the spread (ATS) over that span.
Toronto is 6-1 straight up (SU) and 5-2 ATS in its last seven games with the most recent being a 118-108 home win over the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday.
The Raptors are 2-1 SU and 3-0 ATS this season versus the Sixers and the total is 2-1 Over/Under (O/U).
76ers at Raptors odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:43 p.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): 76ers -130 (bet $130 to win $100) | Raptors +105 (bet $100 to win $105)
- Against the spread: 76ers -1.5 (-112) | Raptors +1.5 (-108)
- Over/Under: 219.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
76ers at Raptors key injuries
76ers
- SF Matisse Thybulle (ineligible to play) out
Raptors
- SF OG Anunoby (quad) questionable
[tipico]
76ers at Raptors odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Raptors 117, 76ers 111
Money line
LEAN RAPTORS (+105) only because I’d prefer to take however many points I can get with Toronto. But, the oddsmakers were correct in making the Raptors a favorite on the opener and the market is wrong to bet the 76ers up to a favorite.
The main reason is Philly big Joel Embiid struggles against the Raptors because their head coach Nick Nurse is a defensive mastermind. Embiid has a 55.3% true shooting rate versus Toronto (career 60.0% true shooting) and a minus-3 net rating (career plus-11 net rating) over his career.
The Raptors are also deep on the wing and the Sixers will be missing its best wing defender in Thybulle. Backup Philly SF Danny Green cannot be expected to handle Toronto SF Pascal Siakam who’s balling this season.
Toronto looked much better versus Atlanta than the final score indicates. All-Star PG Fred VanVleet shot an awful 4-for-21 from the field and missed a ton of wide-open looks. I expect VanVleet to have a bounce-back performance and to light up Philly’s backcourt Thursday.
Again, it’s only a LEAN to the RAPTORS (+105) because I prefer Toronto’s spread.
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Against the spread
BET the RAPTORS +1.5 (-108) since they are home, the Sixers will be without its most important defender and Toronto is better coached with more continuity.
Philly’s defensive rebounding is suspect and Toronto is averaging 15.0 offensive rebounds per game in the three 76ers-Raptors meetings this season. Toronto is second in both offensive rebounding rate and second-chance points per game (PPG).
The Raptors also have a massive strength-on-weakness edge in fastbreak basketball. Toronto gets out in transition at the fifth-highest rate and scores the third-most fastbreak PPG. Whereas Philly’s defense is 29th in transition defensive efficiency and 28th in fastbreak PPG allowed.
The RAPTORS PLUS THE POINTS is my favorite play in this game.
Over/Under
LEAN OVER 219.5 (-110) only because I much prefer Toronto’s spread more than the total and both defenses have been playing well over the past two weeks.
However, there’s a Pros vs. Joe’s scenario in the betting market for the total with a slight majority of the money being on the Over while more than 80% of the bets placed are on the Under, according to Pregame.com.
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