Tuesday night will feature two Eastern Conference teams that are vying for playoff positioning as the Miami Heat (40-35, 7th in the East) take on the Toronto Raptors (37-38, 9th in the East). The Raptors will host this one at Scotiabank Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.
The Raptors are the favorite in this one playing at home. They are -142 to win, while the Heat’s moneyline sits at +120. The spread features Miami as 3-point underdogs (-114), and the over/under for total points is 218.5 (-110).
Miami Hoping To Avoid Play-In Tournament
With ten teams making the playoffs in each conference, four via the play-in games, the Heat will be in the postseason. With that in mind, they are tied with the same record as the Brooklyn Nets, and they will hope to leapfrog them in the standings to avoid the play-in tournament.
Miami comes into this one off of a loss in their last game, but they are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Despite that, they have struggled this season both on the road (15-21) and against the Eastern Conference (21-25).
Offensively, Miami ranks dead last in the NBA in scoring, averaging just 109.1 points per game. They are led by the trio of Jimmy Butler (22.8 points, 6 rebounds, 5.1 assists), Bam Adebayo (20.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists), and Tyler Herro (20.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists).
On the defensive end, the Heat are elite. In fact, they rank second in scoring defense, allowing opponents an average of just 109.9 points per game.
Raptors Try To Keep Winning Streak Alive
At 37-38, the Raptors sit in ninth in the Eastern Conference. They are currently tied with the Hawks in terms of record, but Atlanta holds the tiebreaker. They also sit just a half game up on the Bulls, so this game still is valuable for Toronto.
Toronto has won back-to-back games coming into this one, and they are 25-14 when playing at Scotiabank Arena. Still, they are just 5-5 in their last 10 and 22-23 against the East this year.
Like Miami, Toronto has a solid defense. They rank fifth in the league in scoring defense, allowing opponents an average of 111.9 points per game (106.3 points per game over their last three).
The Raptors rank just 21st in offense, averaging 113 points per game. Pascal Siakam leads the way for Toronto, averaging 24.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game. Other contributors include Fred VanVleet (19.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 7 assists), Gary Trent Jr (17.7 points, 2.7 rebounds), and O.G. Anunoby (16.8 points, 5.1 rebounds).
Take Toronto To Win At Home
Miami comes into this one 2-4 straight up and 1-5 against the spread in their last six games against the Raptors. In their last 18 games overall, they are 6-12 against the spread.
As for Toronto, they are 9-1 over their last 10 home games, and they are 5-2 in their last seven games overall.
Both of these teams have something to play for, but it is hard to ignore how well Toronto has been playing at home as of late. Miami might keep this one close, but take the Raptors to win this one straight up at home (-142).
