NBA basketball returns to British shores this Thursday when the Toronto Raptors and the Orlando Magic lock horns at the O2 Arena in London. The momentum’s definitely on the Raptors’ side as they attempt to stretch their current winning streak to four. The Magic, meanwhile, will be striving to bounce back from a six-point home loss to Washington in their last time out. Who will emerge triumphant in this one?
[sc:NBA250 ]Let’s now take a closer look at this Eastern Conference clash below. And if you’re craving for some more hoops action, check out our previews of the Spurs at Cavaliers and Lakers at Warriors.
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Toronto Raptors vs. Orlando Magic Betting Preview
Where: O2 Arena, London
When: Thursday, January 14, 2016, 3:00 PM ET
Line: Toronto Raptors (-4) at Orlando Magic (+4); total: 192.5 – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast:NBATV
Betting on the Toronto Raptors (24-15)
Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Those two are essentially the main reasons why the Toronto Raptors have been a team to be reckoned with this season and even in the past couple of years.
Lowry, the 29-year-old point guard from Villanova, continues to pile up the stat sheet with 21.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 7.0 assists while shooting 47.6% from the field over the past five games. He should be able get it going once again versus an Orlando defense that’s had some trouble in guarding speedy guards like him.
DeRozan, meanwhile, could prove to be an even bigger problem for the Magic. He leads Toronto in scoring this year with 22.9 points per contest and carries a solid track record of 18.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 dimes in this matchup. DeRozan has also finished with 20 or more points in six of his previous 10 outings.
Apart from the mentioned pair, it wouldn’t be fair to forget the positive impact that center Jonas Valanciunas (12.2 points and 8.9 boards this campaign) has provided the Central Division-leading Raptors. His 7-foot frame and low-post game should continue to give the team an intimidating presence in the paint and a reliable third-option on offense.
Toronto is 7-3 SU and 5-5 ATS in its last 10 games.
Speaking of an intimidating low-post presence, the Orlando Magic also have one in the form of Nikola Vucevic, who’s been producing monstrous numbers as of late. The 25-year-old big man from Switzerland enters this game having scored 20 or more points in his last two outings. In that stretch, he’s also accumulated 19 boards, nine assists and three steals under his belt.
Vucevic’s ability to attract double teams from time to time should give his other teammates in Victor Oladipo and Evan Fournier more opportunities to score some buckets. Both are averaging double figures this season with 13.1 PPG, 13.8 PPG respectively.
Oladipo, in particular, is expected to be very aggressive in this one. He marches into this contest averaging 18.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.7 dimes while shooting 65% (13-for-20) from down town in his last four games. Orlando went 1-3 in that span, however.
Over on defense, the Raptors are going to have their hands full in stopping one of the NBA’s premier scoring tandems, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, who are scoring 43.6 points combined this season. But it’s a good thing that the Magic defense (98.6 points given up per game) has done a decent job in holding off opposing teams from their usual averages.
Orlando is only 1-9 SU and 3-7 ATS in its past 10 meetings with the Raptors.
