The Toronto Raptors are headed to the playoffs, but their status as the Eastern Conference’s top seeds remain in danger after a Tuesday night loss to Cleveland, and with the Boston Celtics still looming large in their rearview mirror. That’s why they will not take the Indiana Pacers lightly at home this Friday. As for the Pacers, they are still jockeying for position in the standings, so a win against Toronto could also spell the difference between them getting a home-court advantage in the postseason and not getting it.
The Pacers are just 1-2 SU this season against Toronto but have gifted their spread bettors with two covers in those games. That includes their Nov. 24, 107-104 home win against Toronto in which Victor Oladipo scored 21 points, while Bojan Bogdanovic went 8-for-16 from the field to finish with 19 points. Dipo and Bogdanovic are the Pacers’ top two offensive weapons this season with the former making 23.3 points per game, while the latter is producing 14.3 each outing. Indiana is going to need more than Oladipo and Bogdanovic to produce against a defensive team like Toronto, though. It would be nice for the Pacers if Myles Turner would play to his potential. Turner is certainly capable of putting higher numbers than his pathetic averages of 8.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in three meetings against the Raptors this season.
The Raptors are just one of the few teams that are inside the top 10 in the NBA in both offense and defense. Toronto is third in the league with 112.3 points per game and fifth with just 104.5 points allowed contest. But it’s the Raptors’ bench that has been getting plenty of attention of late. Toronto’s deep bench has often been the difference in Raptors games this season. The Raptors’ second unit is fourth in the NBA with 41.7 points per game. Fred VanVleet is slowly but surely proving that he’s not just a guy with a quirky name, as he is producing 21.3 points and 7.6 assists per 100 possessions. When the Raptors beat Indiana on Mar. 15 on the road, 106-99, though, Toronto’s bench was uncharacteristically outscored, 54-36.
Toronto is 9-1 SU and 6-4 ATS in its last 10 home games against the Pacers.
