The Toronto Raptors and the Miami Heat duke it out at the FTX Arena on Saturday night.
The Toronto Raptors have split their first two games of the season and they will be hoping to bounce back after last night’s 109-105 road loss to the Nets. Pascal Siakam led the team with a triple-double of 37 points with 12 rebounds and 11 assists, Fred VanVleet added 18 points with seven rebounds and nine assists while Scottie Barnes chipped in with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists. As a team, the Raptors shot 48 percent from the field and 11 of 28 from the 3-point line as they kept pace with the Nets in a tight battle until the Nets opened the fourth quarter with a pivotal 8-0 run to steal the lead for good.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat will be hoping to avoid a third straight defeat to open the season after coming up short against the Celtics in a 111-104 loss last night. Tyler Herro led the team with 25 points, six rebounds and three assists, Bam Adebayo added 19 points with eight rebounds and five assists, Jimmy Butler scored 18 points with five assists while Kyle Lowry and Gabe Vincent each scored 17 points. As a team, the Heat shot 45 percent from the field and eight of 26 from the 3-point line as they got off to another slow start and were always fighting an uphill battle after falling behind by 14 points early. In fact, the Heat didn’t really find their groove until the fourth quarter when the game was all but lost.
Looking at the betting trends, the Raptors are 1-5 ATS in their last six games playing on zero days’ rest and 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games against a team with a losing home record. The Heat are 0-4 ATS in their last four home games, 2-6 ATS in their last eight games playing on zero days’ rest and 1-4 ATS in their last five games against a team with a winning record.
Head to head, the over is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall.
The Raptors will be disappointed with last night’s narrow loss to the Nets, but they were right in the contest till the end and Siakam looked fantastic with his triple-double. The Heat have yet to find their groove this season and it has actually been on the defensive end where they’ve struggled but they really need a win now and I think they can get the job done at home in a close one here.