Los Angeles Lakers vs. Toronto Raptors Preview
Where: Air Canada Centre — Toronto, Ontario
When: Friday, December 2, 2016, 7:30 PM ET
Line: Los Angeles Lakers (+10) vs. Toronto Raptors (-10); total: 214.0 – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: TWSN / TSN
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Betting on the Los Angeles Lakers (+10)
Luke Walton’s influence has been mainly felt on the offensive end for the young, much-improved Lakers, who rank sixth in the league in scoring (108.6 PPG) this season. But on Thursday night in Chicago, the shorthanded purple and gold started to play some good defense, especially on Jimmy Butler, in their huge road win versus the Bulls, 96-90.
LA held the Bulls to shoot just 35.7 percent from the field despite committing a season-high of 24 turnovers, which turned into 26 points for the host team.
Offensively, the Lakers were almost just as horrendous at a collective 40.7 shooting percentage. Still, they made enough baskets with the pair of Lou Williams and Jordan Clarkson, who provided 18 points apiece off the bench.
Julius Randle, meanwhile, was a menace under the rim, tying his career-high of 20 boards to go along with 13 points, including a huge go-ahead layup in the final minute against the outstretched arms of Chicago’s Nikola Mirotic.
The Lakers have now won 10 games, already equaling their win total a season ago. They have a chance to make it 11 tonight in Toronto, but it’ll be easier said than done to say the least as the Raptors have won four in a row (4-0 ATS) and have beaten LA in the last three meetings.
Betting on the Toronto Raptors (-10)
Toronto is on four-game run right now, a stretch in which the Raptors have consistently lit up the scoreboard, piling up at least 105 or more points in each game.
DeMar DeRozan has cooled down a bit, though, being held below 30 points in his previous six games, including a 14-point performance against Philadelphia. Despite this, DeRozan’s received some solid support from his backcourt mate in Kyle Lowry, who’s coming off back-to-back 20-point efforts in the last two games. The two All-Stars are putting up nearly 50 points combined this season.
However, the Raps defense is far from being solid. It’s allowing 104.3 points per contest, among the highest in the league. And besides this, their carelessness with the rock is another thing that makes the team vulnerable. Toronto had a season-high of 20 turnovers against the Grizzlies on Wednesday.
Expect the Raptors to put themselves on the wrong side of an upset if they don’t provide answers to their shortcomings, or underestimate a resilient Lakers squad that’s coming off a big, confidence-boosting win in Chicago.
Toronto is 3-2 SU and 3-1-1 ATS in its last five home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Toronto (-10) wins it, 118-106.
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