Free NBA Playoffs Pick: Pacers vs Raptors Lines
Looking for Indiana Pacers vs. Toronto Raptors free playoff picks? NBA betting sees the Pacers taking on the Raptors on Saturday, April 16th 2016 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball playoff matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions.
(45-37) Indiana Pacers vs. Toronto Raptors (56-26)
Round 1: Game 1
Date: Saturday, April 16th 2016
Time: 12:30PM EST
Venue: Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada
NBA Moneyline Odds: Pacers +300 / Raptors -400
NBA Betting Odds: Raptors -6.5
NBA Betting Total: Over 194.5 Points
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The Toronto Raptors have earned a trip to the NBA playoffs for the third consecutive season, but they’ll be hoping to make a deeper run this time around, as they’ve been eliminated in the first round the past two years.
Winning the Atlantic is great, but now the real test comes for this Raptors team.
The Indiana Pacers ended the regular season strongly and earned the #7 seed in the Eastern Conference. They’ll be happy to be in the playoffs, but they’ll be in tough against a Raptors team that dominated them this season.
Indiana Pacers
How can the Pacers win this series? Well, it starts with the opening game. If they can steal this opening game on Saturday afternoon, the entire city of Toronto will begin to have nightmares from the previous two years.
It’ll also put the pressure squarely on the shoulders of the Raptors, which they haven’t shown they can handle in playoff situations yet. Beating the Raptors will come down to how well the Pacers play defensively.
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Indiana ranked 8th in points allowed (100.5 PPG), 12th in rebounds (44.2 RPG), 17th in points scored (102.2 PPG) and 22nd in assists (21.2 APG). The Pacers play good defense, but rely too much on Paul George offensively.
George leads the team in points (23.1 PPG) and steals (1.9 SPG). It’s a given that he needs to play well, but if the Pacers want to win this game I believe Monta Ellis is the key. If he puts up 20+ points, Indiana will have a shot.
Toronto Raptors
When you think of the Raptors, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan come to mind and many assume the Raptors live and die offensively. However, Toronto actually ranked 3rd in points allowed (98.2 PPG) this season.
They’re middle of the pack in points scored (102.7 PPG – 14th) and rebounding (43.4 RPG – 16th). The game plan in the opener is simple for the Raptors and that’s to do exactly what they’ve been doing all season.
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DeRozan (23.5 PPG) and Lowry (21.2 PPG) both need to score 20+ points. Jonas Valanciunas needs to dominate the glass and score some easy buckets under the hoop and Norman Powell has to keep shooting the basketball.
Toronto are better defensively and DeMarre Carroll is healthy enough to play in this series, which means he’ll be tasked with covering George. This is exactly why the Raptors decided to sign Carroll during the off-season.
NBA Betting Trends:
- Pacers are 7-22 ATS in last 29 games in Toronto.
- Raptors are 4-0 ATS in last 4 home games.
- Pacers are 4-1 ATS in last 5 games.
- Over is 4-0 in last 4 H2H games in Toronto.
- Over is 4-1 in Raptors last 5 home games.
Free Indiana Pacers vs. Toronto Raptors NBA Prediction:
Living in Toronto, I’m a huge Raptors fan. However, I’m also unbiased when it comes to betting. There will be some nerves early in this game and I expect it to be close throughout, so the point spread is a little high.
My best bet is on the over. The over/under is 2-2 in the H2H season series, but all of the games have had 195 or more points. With the total opening lower than I expected, I feel that it offers the best value to start the series.
NBA Free Score Prediction: Toronto 106 – Indiana 101
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