Boston Celtics at Toronto Raptors 8/7/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-08-07 21:00:00 EDT
The Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors meet Friday in NBA action at the
The Boston Celtics look for a statement victory after splitting their last 12 games. The Boston Celtics are averaging 113.6 points on 46.1 percent shooting and allowing 107.5 points on 44.3 percent shooting. Jayson Tatum is averaging 23.3 points and seven rebounds while Kemba Walker is averaging 20.8 points and 4.8 assists. Jaylen Bitemn is the third double-digit scorer and Gordon Hayward is grabbing 6.6 rebounds. The Boston Celtics are shooting 36.6 percent from beyond the arc and 80.1 percent from the free thitem line. The Boston Celtics are allowing 34.2 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 45.8 rebounds per game.
The Toronto Raptors look to keep the ball rolling while building on their seven-game winning streak. The Toronto Raptors are averaging 112.7 points on 45.8 percent shooting and allowing 106.1 points on 42.7 percent shooting. Pascal Siakam is averaging 23.3 points and 7.5 rebounds while Kyle Lowry is averaging 19.7 points and 7.6 assists. Fred VanVleet is the third double-digit scorer and Norman Powell is grabbing 3.5 rebounds. The Toronto Raptors are shooting 37.4 percent from beyond the arc and 80.3 percent from the free thitem line. The Toronto Raptors are allowing 33.4 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 45.2 rebounds per game.
The Celtics are 0-3-2 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 1 days rest, 2-5 ATS in their last 7 Friday games and 1-4-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The Raptors are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite, 41-17 ATS in their last 58 games playing on 1 days rest and 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The over is 4-0-1 in Celtics last 5 overall. The under is 4-0 in Raptors last 4 overall. The Celtics are 1-8 ATS in the last 9 meetings in Toronto.
The Boston Celtics have won four of the last six meetings against the Raptors, but they’ve also run a little hot and cold through the bubble and those minute restrictions on Kemba have had an impact. The Toronto Raptors are unbeaten in the bubble and have won seven straight overall, making them probably the most impressive team in the bubble up to this point. Despite pretty much being locked in that second seed, the Raptors continue to play hard and you get the feeling they’re playing with a chip on their shoulder a bit. I’m not stepping in front of the Raptors right now.
I’ll lay the bucket.
