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Horse Racing Toronto Raptors vs Boston Celtics Best Bet: Red Hot Celtics Continue Rolling
Toronto Raptors vs Boston Celtics Best Bet: Monday, December 5th
The Toronto Raptors welcome the Boston Celtics to Scotiabank Arena tonight for the first of their 4 encounters of the regular season. Last year they split the season series with both teams stealing a road win, but the Celtics are rolling at the moment and I give them an edge in this one.
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Toronto Raptors vs Boston Celtics Preview
Mon, Dec 5th. 23:40 (UK time)
The Toronto Raptors are having a slightly disappointing season so far, sitting 7th in the Eastern Conference with 12 wins and 11 losses. There is still more than enough time for them to push up the ladder, but the east is tough this year and will certainly be a difficult task. They have won half of their last 10 games, and are coming off a 121-108 win against the Orlando Magic at home. However, Otto Porter and Precious Achiuwa will miss tonight’s game, whilst Huancho Hernangomez is listed as ‘doubtful’.
The Raptors have been struggling to get easy baskets this season, and despite ranking 9th in field goal attempts, they’re only averaging 110.9 points per game – 20th in the league. They play slow, don’t shoot a lot of threes and when they do, they only make 32.9% of them. It’s very difficult to win games when you don’t have the 3-ball as a weapon, even for a team with solid defence like the Raptors have. That said, their perimeter defence hasn’t been the best this year, allowing opponents to shoot 35.3% from downtown, and against a team like the Celtics, this can easily cost them the dub.
Moving on. The Boston Celtics are the best team in basketball right now and hoping to finally make a successful title run. They have been burning through the regular season and are sitting atop the east with 19 wins and 5 losses. They have won 8 of their last 10 games and have just got done handling the Nets in Brooklyn by 103-92. That said, Robert Williams III is still out, whilst and will be joined by Danilo Gallinari whilst Marcus Smart is listed as a ‘game time decision’ with a hip injury.
So what have the Celtics been doing that has allowed them to win so many games? Well, they have been scoring more points than their opponents. Really, that’s it/ The Celtics are the highest-scoring team in the NBA right now, averaging 120.8 points per game and shooting the lights out. They are shooting a lot of threes (41.6) and it’s safe to say they have been automatic at 40.4% (1st in NBA). They only attempt 44.7 two-pointers per game, whilst making a high percentage and they don’t crash the boards. Having 2 superstars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown certainly helps, but their bench has also been solid, averaging 33 points per game whilst playing great defence.
Toronto Raptors vs Boston Celtics Best Bet
All in all, the Raptors are a sold team and their defence at home is nothing to scoff at, but I believe the Celtics simply have too much firepower to be stopped right now. Both teams will likely face some fatigue, but I expect this to impact the Raptors’ defence more than Boston’s ability to score. In fact, the Celtics have won 3 of their 4 games ATS this year when playing with no rest They can do it again. The spread is at just 1.5 points, but if the Celtics can get hot from downtown again, they can easily cover.
- Selection: Celtics -1.5
- Best Odds: 1.95 (Unibet)
- Stakes: 4/10
Odds as of 13:00 pm December 5th, 2022. Odds may now differ.
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