Boston Celtics (14-10) vs Toronto Raptors (8-19)
The Toronto Raptors are not a very good team. Take away leading scorer Andrea Bargnani ( who has been out in two separate stints) and they can be quite anemic and they will be facing Boston missing Bargnani, and unlikely recent scoring sensation, guard Jeryd Bayless as well.
Friday February 10
Air Canada Centre – Toronto, ON
7:00PM
Moneyline: No money line posted at this time
Spread: Boston -4.5
O/U: 175
Toronto
Add that to a three game losing streak and the fact they have lost 5 straight to the Celtics and it doesn’t look very promising for the Raptors on Friday night.
The one saving grace for Toronto this year has been that they generally play pretty good defense, although you have to wonder if they can keep putting consistent effort in that area as the season wears on and the losing builds. Boston has been playing better lately but they are not a high scoring team which may enable Toronto to hang around in this one.
The real problem they have now is closing games with no obvious source for key buckets.
Boston
The Boston Celtics have improved their play greatly lately, reentering the conversation of who is a legitimate playoff contender in the Eastern Conference.
Heading into Thursday’s action they are the best defensive team in the league. That should come as no surprise for this dedicated veteran group but I was surprised to see that they are the top 3 point shooting team too, at least in terms of percentage at 40%. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
They have suffered through injuries but now that they are whole they are a force to be reckoned with.
Heading into Thursday’s duel with the Lakers the Celtics have won 9 of 10. They are relying on their big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen for sure with Allen hitting a sweet 52% of his 3 pointers.
Everyone knows Allen is on the better shooters in the league but he has been on fire, even for him, this year. He has never shot better than he did last year when he hit at a 44% clip. The question is whether he and the rest of the veterans on the team can keep playing at the level they are at for the rest of the season.
Friday will be the second game of a back to back.
Spread Pick: Boston -4.5
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Boston 90 – Toronto 80
