The Toronto Raptors continue to gain steam as a possible contender in the Eastern Conference. Toronto has expanded its lead for the top seed in the East over the Boston Celtics to a game-and-a-half, and finishing atop the conference would be big come playoff time. The Raptors can keep the pressure the pressure on the rest of the East by picking up a big win over the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit is fighting for a playoff spot and gets this game at home, so it would be a huge to pull a mini upset because the Pistons are falling off the pace and are running out of time to make a legitimate run at the postseason. While Toronto isn’t talked about in the same breath as teams like the Warriors and Rockets, its win-loss record isn’t too far off. The Raptors should be favored to take care of business in this showdown.
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Odds Analysis
The Raptors are 45-17 straight up and 35-27 against the spread. Toronto has covered in 18 of 31 attempts on the road this season. It is 27-24 against the spread as the favorite.
The Pistons are 29-34 straight up and 27-34-2 against the spread. Detroit is 13-19-1 against the spread as the home team this season. The Pistons are 15-14-1 against the spread as the underdog.
Key Stat
11 . That’s how many wins the Raptors have since February and they enter this matchup with a record of 45-17. The team has a record of 11-2 since the start of last month, with both losses coming by just three points.
The Raptors have won four straight heading into this week’s games against Atlanta and Detroit including a 123-94 win against the Pistons on February 26th. The team’s only losses since the beginning of February came to the Wizards on February 1st and Milwaukee in overtime on February 23rd, both by a score of 122-119.
Toronto has averaged 115 points in those 13 games since the start of February and also dropped 130 against Portland on February 2nd. The Raptors will look to continue their winning ways in March.
Previous Meetings
The Pistons have lost twice to the Raptors already this season. They kept it close in the first meeting back in January, falling 96-91 but were blown out in the second meeting mentioned above, losing by 29 points.
Andre Drummond had 25 points and 17 rebounds in that first meeting for Detroit despite the loss and finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds in the second. The Pistons will need a big performance from him as well as Blake Griffin and Tobias Harris in order to get a win.
The Raptors have a nice combination of an efficient offense and a strong defense, which they were able to show flashes of against the Pistons in each of the first two games.
Free NBA ATS Picks
The Pistons acquired star power forward Griffin at the trading deadline and the team looked good after the acquisition, but it has since fallen on hard times. Detroit has lost eight of its past 10 games to fall five games out of playoff contention.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Raptors are legitimate title contenders, but they should not have too much trouble taking care of business in this one. Take Toronto to win the game and it also should be under consideration to cover the spread. The “over” is the right call as this one will be higher-scoring than these teams have shown this season.
NBA Odds: Raptors 109, Pistons 102
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