NBA Free Premium Play 01/17: Minnesota Timberwolves @ Toronto Raptors

Minnesota  at Toronto

NBA - 805 Minnesota Timberwolves @ 806 Toronto Raptors Play #2 I understand that the Raptors are playing really well since they traded away Rudy Gay to Sacramento, but IMO they are a bit overrated right now and especially, they won’t be “ready” for the style that MIN displays on the court. Tonight’s game snapped an 11-games streak for TOR in which they have faced Eastern Conference teams… that says it all about how relatively easy their schedule has been during this 11-games span (they had only 3 “tough games” vs. MIA & IND). TOR’s defense has been excellent; but again, just look for their opponents Offensive Rtg. rankings: NYK #19 CHI #29 IND #17 WAS #21 MIA #2 DET #20 BKN #18 MIL #30 BOS #24 They have faced only one Top 10 offensive team in the league! I’m not saying that MIN offense is near the level of MIA’s offense but MIN is ranked #8 right now and they will cause more problems for TOR. TOR’s frontline is a bit banged up for tonight’s contest: Tyler Hansbrough most likely will miss the game; Amir Johnson has a bad ankle and Jonas Valanciunas played sick in the last game @TOR. In the last game @BOS, TOR was completely dominated by BOS frontcourt – they had only 43.5% reb/rate and J. Sullinger completely owned them w/ 7-14 FG, 10-14 FT, 25 pts & 20 rebounds! Well, MIN has Kevin Love & Nikola Pekovic on their frontcourt… MIN is coming from a bad loss at home vs. SAC. I had a play w/ SAC+10 in the game because in a fast paced contest, this Kings team is a dangerous opponent for any team in the league and they simply outgunned the Wolves. TOR isn’t used to play in such fast tempo and I think that tonight’s flow of the game will favor MIN. Rick Adelman was upset after another bad defensive performance from his team: "We're so hands-off defensively," coach Rick Adelman said. "It almost takes an act of Congress to foul somebody. You have to get after people in this league." So I expect MIN to be more active defensively tonight while their edge down low on the offensive end will be enough to win on the road and that’s why I’m taking them tonight. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 805 Minnesota Timberwolves (+1.5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bovada