NBA Most Bet Player Props: Raptors vs Heat
Raptors' Crossroads: Strategy Dilemma at Season's Quarter Mark
As the NBA season starts to settle into its winter-time slog, with teams coming up on the quarter mark of the schedule, narratives start to fall into place.
With the Toronto Raptors, it’s what direction the team should take, a team clearly embracing the fast-ball-movement style preached by new coach Darko Rajakovic, but without the bench talent to take it beyond a middling .500 record, maybe or maybe not an NBA play-in tournament candidate when the regular season wraps up in April.
Do you the Raptors trade off assets like Pascal Siakam, having a very solid season to date, bring back draft picks and build for next season, or do they hold the fort and push for a playoff spot? Then, well, who knows what will play out?
Tonight, the Raptors (9-11) host the Miami Heat (11-9) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto (7:30 p.m. EST start time, TV: TSN, Radio: Sportsnet 590 The Fan).
Latest Trends for the Toronto Raptors
Some of the latest Raptors trends: Tonight is the last game of a three-game homestand, where they’ve gone 1-1. The Raptors have won four of their last five home games against Miami. Toronto currently ranks fourth in the NBA in assists (28.1), an improvement from last year where they finished 23rd (23.9). The Raptors have dished out 25+ assists in a league-best 18 games this season (including a franchise record 12 straight games from Nov. 1-24) – so again, they’re embracing Rajakovic’s coaching.
PG Dennis Schröder is having one of his better seasons – averaging a team-high 7.0 assists. Scottie Barnes had a team-high 29 points (13-19 field goals, 3-7 from three-point range) in the Raptors 119-106 loss to the New York Knicks Friday night, the last game they played.
Barnes had a career high-tying five steals that game – joining Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Jayson Tatum as one of just five players this year to record 25+ points and 5+ steals in a game.
And Siakam? He had 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists in that Knicks game. Siakam has scored 20+ points in four straight games against Miami.
The Raptors have been a Jekyll and Hyde team, one night surprising everyone, beating upper-level teams like the Phoenix Suns, then losing games they should be winning, like a 99-91 loss to the Portland Trailblazers (third last in the Western Conference now) Oct. 30.
NBA Betting Odds: Toronto Raptors vs Miami Heat
NBA oddsmakers favour the Raptors tonight:
- NorthStar Bets has the Moneyline Raptors 1.64, Heat 2.30;
- theScore Bet has it Raptors 1.67, Heat 2.30;
- at PointsBet Canada it’s Raptors 1.63, Heat 2.30.
So far, on the player prop front, BetMGM says the Heat’s Jimmy Butler Over 25.5 points, Duncan Robinson Over 2.5 three-pointers, and Siakam Over 7.5 rebounds, are getting the most online betting action.
At PointsBet Canada, Schröder Over 6.5 assists and Over 13.5 points are looking very popular. So is the Heat’s Kyle Lowry Over 4.5 assists and 3+ three pointers made.
And over at BetRivers, Butler Under 5.5 assists, Siakam Under 5.5 assists and Lowry Over 10.5 points are getting the most action on the most wagered-on player props by percentage of money front; Barnes Over 4.5 assists, Schroder Over 6.5 assists and Robinson Over 13.5 on the percentage of player prop tickets front.
No injuries to report on the Raptors side, other than Christian Koloko, who has been out all season with an illness. PG Tyler Herro (ankle), F Haywood Highsmith (back) and C Bam Adebayo (hip) are out for the Heat.
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