The Boston Celtics may have gotten all the publicity by beating out the Cavaliers for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but less well known is the fact that the Toronto Raptors finished with the same record as the defending champions.
Toronto lost the tiebreaker so will enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed, but should be feeling good about its chance to dispatch the No. 6 seed Milwaukee Bucks. While the Bucks had a solid season, they are not on Toronto’s level and could have a tough time making this series competitive.
The Raptors get the first game at home, where they will be sizable favorites to pull out a victory and take an early series lead.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, April 15, 2017, at 2:30 p.m. ET at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada. The game will be televised live on ESPN.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Saturday schedule.
NBA Odds
The Raptors enter this matchup as seven-point favorites to take care of business. They are listed at -305 on the moneyline, while the Bucks come in at +249. More than 90 percent of the early action has chosen Milwaukee to pull the upset at that price, but it seems like a waste of money.
The scoring total is listed at 202, with the “under” the more popular choice in what is expected to be a low-scoring battle.
Toronto went 51-31 straight up and 44-36-2 against the spread in the regular season. The Raptors were 21-19-1 against the spread as the home team and 30-27-1 against the spread as the favorite.
The Bucks were 42-40 straight up in the regular season and 36-46 against the spread. Milwaukee covered in 17 of 41 attempts on the road this season and was 18-22 against the spread as the underdog.
Key Stat
4.3. That was Toronto’s positive point-differential on the season, which was the best in the Eastern Conference and the fifth-best mark in the NBA. The Raptors aren’t necessarily looked upon as one of the elite teams in the NBA, but they have a really solid team and are a bit underrated.
The Raptors scored 106.9 points per game and did well defensively, allowing 102.6 points per contest on the year. Toronto is staring down a tough matchup in the second round against the Cavaliers, and that will be a tough matchup.
However, Toronto should be a sizable favorite to get there in this matchup with Milwaukee.
Season Series
The Raptors won three of the four regular season matchups, although the Bucks were able to claim the final game between the teams. Toronto started off with a 105-99 road victory in November and then cruised past the Bucks at home in December.
The Raptors pushed their head-to-head record against Milwaukee to 3-0 with a 102-86 win in January, before Milwaukee finally got on the board with a 101-94 win at home in March.
It wouldn’t be a surprise at all for this playoff series to follow the regular season, with Toronto winning a pair of wins at home and getting one on the road early to take control of this series.
Free NBA ATS Pick
The Raptors are a sneaky threat in the East this year, as they may actually be a bigger threat to the Cavaliers than the Boston Celtics are. Toronto should have little trouble with the Bucks this season.
While Giannis Antetokounmpo is a burgeoning star for the Bucks, he doesn’t have enough support. Toronto’s backcourt duo of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan should do enough to take over the first game and lead their team to victory over Milwaukee. The “over” is the better play on the scoring total
NBA Odds: Raptors 106, Bucks 98
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