Toronto Looks to Clinch Atlantic Division Title
The NBA regular season ends in less than a week but some teams continue to fight for higher seeds in the postseason while others are battling to just qualify.
Tonight two such teams meet when the Toronto Raptors host the New York Knicks in a game that has playoff implications for both.
Toronto currently leads the Atlantic division by three games over the Brooklyn Nets. The Raptors are tied for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with the Chicago Bulls. Both the Raptors and Bulls are 46-32 on the season with Toronto winning its last 4 and Chicago its last 6.
New York is battling for the eighth and final spot in the conference playoff hunt. The Knicks are currently two games behind the Atlanta Hawks with four games to play.
Toronto this season is 46-32 straight up and 45-31-2 against the spread. The Raptors at home this season are 25-14, while 42 of their 78 games have cashed on the OVER.
New York enters this game with an overall record of 33-45 SU and 34-44 ATS. On the road, the Knicks are 16-23, while the point total has cashed on the OVER in 43 of New York’s 78 games. The Knicks have lost two straight and are 5-5 over their past 10 games overall.
A win tonight clinches the Atlantic division for Toronto for only the second time in time in the history of the franchise. The Raptors are winners of 7 of their past 8 overall.
The Knicks however are long shots to make the postseason. On Sunday, the Knicks lost to Miami on the road with team high scorer Carmelo Anthony scoring just 14 points in the game.
J.R. Smith has stepped up his game of late hitting 10 three-point shots in the game against Miami.
Kyle Lowry returned to Toronto’s lineup on Wednesday against Philadelphia and scored 29 points while handing out eight assists.
The Raptors are tied with Chicago for the No. 3 spot in the conference. Toronto wins a tiebreaker if the teams end with identical records.
Lowry scored 32 points, dished out 11 assists and grabbed 8 rebounds the last time the two teams played head to head.
New York has covered the spread in just 1 of its past 5 games against teams from the Eastern Conference.
The UNDER has cashed in each of the past 4 games New York has played on Friday. The UNDER has cashed in 5 of the past 6 games New York has played overall.
The OVER has cashed in each of the past 4 games Toronto has played overall and in each of its past 4 games played at home.
The OVER has cashed in 4 of the past 5 games the Raptors have played the Knicks. The underdog has covered in 14 of the past 20 games the two teams have played head to head.
The Knicks have covered the spread in 2 of the past 7 games against the Raptors. New York has covered the number in just 1 of the past 5 games the two teams have played in Toronto.
Pick: Toronto 93-86
