It’s a rematch of last season’s terrific Eastern Conference semifinal series on Wednesday night in the first of an ESPN NBA doubleheader as the Philadelphia 76ers visit the Toronto Raptors. The Dinos are favored on the NBA odds.
How to Bet 76ers vs Raptors NBA Odds & TV Info
- When: Wednesday, 7 PM ET
- Where: Scotiabank Arena
- TV: ESPN
- Live Stream: NBA League Pass
- Radio: SiriusXM
- NBA Odds: Toronto Raptors -5 (Total 216)
76ers vs Raptors Season Series
The teams have split, each winning at home – the Raptors have won the past 14 home regular season meetings. The last played on Dec. 8 in Philly with the Sixers winning 110-104. Tobias Harris scored 26 points and rookie Matisse Thybulle had a career-high 20 points, including a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left.Ben Simmons had 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Philadelphia led by 20 points with 6½ minutes left and seemed on the way to an easy victory before seven turnovers down the stretch. Kyle Lowry scored 26 points, and OG Anunoby had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto. Fred VanVleet (right knee contusion) was injured in the first half and didn’t return.
Why Bet on Philadelphia?
The Sixers (29-16) won a fourth in a row Monday, 117-111 in Brooklyn. Ben Simmons tied a career high with 34 points and added 12 rebounds and 12 assists. Simmons shot 12 for 14 from the field in his career-best fifth straight game with 20 or more points, finishing with his fourth triple-double of the season. The NBA leader in steals had five of them.Simmons played 22 minutes in the second half with a 19/8/5 line with two blocks and three steals in that time alone, and he continues to dominate without Joel Embiid (hand). Over his last seven, Simmons is averaging 21.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 62.7 percent shooting. Simmons joined James Harden, Chris Paul and LeBron James as the only players over the past 20 seasons with a 30-point triple-double and five steals in the same game. Simmons scored or assisted on 65 of the 76ers 108 points when he was on the floor. He also went 12-for-14 from the field. His 86% field goal percentage is the highest in a triple-double this season.
Big Names & Numbers
Simmons was named Monday the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for last week. Josh Richardson won the Eastern Conference award the week before Simmons. That was the first time two different 76ers won the award in back-to-back weeks since Aaron McKie and Iverson did it in 2000-01.Al Horford scored 19 points with six rebounds, two assists and two blocks against the Nets on Monday. Without Embiid per 36 minutes, Horford sits at an 18/8/5 line. His per-36-minute line with Embiid is 7/7/4.
The Sixers are now a top-15 ball protection squad in the NBA, having climbed out of the bottom 10 to land in a three-way tie for 11th place, turning the ball over just 14.6 times per game on the season. Part of the reason for the improvement is that Simmons has gotten his individual turnover issues under control. This year he’s averaging a career-low 3.3 turnovers per game.
Team Stats
Offense- Total Score: 108.69
- Field Goal Percentage: 46.77
- Three-Point Percentage: 35.24
- Free Throw Percentage: 74.38
- Total Rebounds: 46.00
Defense
- Total Score: 105.04
- Field Goal Percentage: 45.37
- Three-Point Percentage: 35.51
- Free Throw Percentage: 73.16
- Total Rebounds: 41.42
Why Bet on Toronto?
The Raptors (29-14) won a fourth in a row Monday, 122-117 in Atlanta. Norman Powell scored 27 points, including 17 in the final period. Powell has scored 20 or more points in five straight games, the longest stretch of his career. He is averaging 15.8 points per game. The previous best mark of his five-year career was 8.6 last season.The returns of both Marc Gasol and Pascal Siakam from injury have made a difference in Toronto’s play as of late, but it’s been the play of Powell that’s generated the most buzz. Siakam has now failed to crack 20 points in four of five games since his return from groin discomfort. Against the Hawks, he finished with 18 points to go along with six rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. Siakam missed four attempts from three and is shooting 23.5 percent from beyond the arc over his last five contests.
Toronto led 112-91 before surviving a late comeback by the Hawks, who pulled within two points at 117-115. Fred VanVleet, who had 20 points, sank three free throws with 14.2 seconds remaining after he was fouled by John Collins, pushing the lead to five.
More Numbers
Kyle Lowry scored 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting (4-of-4 from the line) Monday, to go with four rebounds, seven assists, one steal, one block and three turnovers. He played some tough defense and also took his 19th charge of the season. The only guy with more charges than him this season is Montrezl Harrell, but Harrell has appeared in 10 more games.Gasol scored 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting to go with five rebounds, two 3-pointers, two assists and two turnovers in 23 minutes. Gasol has attempted 10 or more shots only three times this season. Serge Ibaka had reached double figures 13 straight times before falling short against Atlanta, notching eight points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes. He did finish with the best net rating on the Raptors, at plus-14.
Team Stats
Offense- Total Score: 112.02
- Field Goal Percentage: 45.29
- Three-Point Percentage: 37.35
- Free Throw Percentage: 79.84
- Total Rebounds: 45.81
Defense
- Total Score: 106.16
- Field Goal Percentage: 42.74
- Three-Point Percentage: 33.37
- Free Throw Percentage: 75.88
- Total Rebounds: 46.91
76ers vs Raptors NBA Week 14 Betting Trends
- Raptors are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games
- Raptors are 4-8 ATS in their last 12 games played in January
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Toronto’s last 5 games at home
- 76ers are 6-2 SU in their last 8 games this season
- 76ers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games against an opponent in the Atlantic division
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Philadelphia’s last 7 games
