Boston Celtics at Toronto Raptors 8/27/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-08-27 18:30:00 EDT
The Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors were set to meet Thursday in game one of NBA playoff action at the HP Field House, but all NBA games have been postponed. No firm date is set for the restart of play, but rumors are that Saturday, August 29th is likely.
The Boston Celtics are coming off a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers. The Boston Celtics are averaging 112.3 points on 45.2 percent shooting and allowing 100.5 points on 39.6 percent shooting. Jayson Tatum is averaging 27 points and 9.8 rebounds while Kemba Walker is averaging 24.3 points and 3.8 assists. Jaylen Bitemn is the third double-digit scorer and Gordon Hayward is grabbing four rebounds. The Boston Celtics are shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc and 81.5 percent from the free thitem line. The Boston Celtics are allowing 26.4 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 43.3 rebounds per game.
The Toronto Raptors are coming off a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets. The Toronto Raptors are averaging 126.3 points on 49.5 percent shooting and allowing 105.8 points on 39.7 percent shooting. Fred VanVleet is averaging 21.3 points and 7.8 assists while Pascal Siakam is averaging 20.8 points and 4.8 assists. Serge Ibaka is the third double-digit scorer and Norman Powell is grabbing 4.5 rebounds. The Toronto Raptors are shooting 43.3 percent from beyond the arc and 78.7 percent from the free thitem line. The Toronto Raptors are allowing 33.7 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 51 rebounds per game.
The Celtics are 15-5 ATS in their last 20 games as an underdog, 18-7-1 ATS in their last 26 games playing on 3 or more days rest and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 playoff games as an underdog. The Raptors are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games playing on 3 or more days rest, 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Thursday games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The under is 5-1 in Celtics last 6 overall. The under is 9-4 in Raptors last 13 overall. The Celtics are 2-8 ATS in the last 10 meetings in Toronto and 5-2 ATS in the last 7 meetings.
The Boston Celtics have won five of the last seven meetings against the Raptors, which includes a 22-point win a couple of weeks ago in the bubble when they were 1.5-point underdogs. The Toronto Raptors are probably the better, deeper team in this matchup and have been arguably the most impressive team in the bubble up to this point, but the Celtics have the pieces that give the Raptors issues, and they enter this series playing high level defense. The Raptors could also be without Kyle Lowry in game one due to an ankle injury, which would be a major blow given the Celtics guard play. This is likely going to be a long, back and forth series. Give me the Celtics and the free bucket.
