Toronto Raptors (32-33) vs. Denver Nuggets (45-19)
March 6, 2023 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Denver Nuggets -7.5; Over/Under: +227.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Toronto Raptors and the Denver Nuggets duke it out at the Ball Arena on Monday night.
The Toronto Raptors have been in great shape as they’ve won nine of their last 12 games overall and they will be looking to stay hot after outlasting the Wizards in a 116-109 overtime road win on Saturday. Gary Trent Jr led the team in scoring with 26 points off the bench, Fred VanVleet added 25 points with 10 assists while Pascal Siakam tallied 15 points with seven assists and four steals. As a team, the Raptors shot 52 percent from the field and 12 of 30 from the 3-point line as they squandered a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, but they didn’t panic and made it up in overtime where they held the Wizards to just four points to earn the win.
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets have been in red-hot form as they’ve won seven of their last eight games overall and they will be gunning for a fourth straight victory after getting routed by the Grizzlies in a 113-97 win on Friday. Michael Porter Jr. led the team with 26 points, Jamal Murray added 22 points with nine assists while Nikola Jokic racked up a triple-double of 18 points with 18 rebounds and 10 assists. As a team, the Nuggets shot 46 percent from the field and eight of 31 from the 3-point line as they got off to a poor start and scored just 22 points in the second quarter to fall behind early, but it was a totally different story in the second half where they outscored the Grizzlies by 63-39 to make it look easy in the end.
Looking at the betting trends, the Raptors are 2-6 ATS in their last eight road games, 5-2 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a winning record and 5-1 ATS in their last six games against a team above .600. The Nuggets are 20-7 ATS in their last 27 home games, 5-2 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a losing record and 23-9 ATS in their last 32 games overall.
Head to head, the over is 15-5-1 in the last 21 meetings overall, the Raptors are 1-6 ATS in the last seven meetings in Denver and the Raptors are 8-22 ATS in the last 30 meetings overall.
The Raptors are keeping an eye on Dalano Banton who is day to day, while the Nuggets are looking at Vlatko Cancar who is questionable with a wrist injury. The Raptors have quietly been playing some of their best basketball of the season and they would’ve taken plenty of confidence from their gritty overtime win over the Wizards on Saturday, but the Nuggets have been the benchmark of the Western Conference and they just made light work of the Grizzlies in their last outing. The Raptors are only 1-6 ATS in the last seven meetings in Denver, so I’ll stick with the more consistent Nuggets to hold the fort at home.
