NBA Free Premium Play 01/02: Portland Trailblazers @ Toronto Raptors

Portland  at Toronto

NBA - 705 Portland Trailblazers @ 706 Toronto Raptors Projected Line: Toronto by 8 points Portland is coming from a big road win in NY against the Knicks last night. The NY team was shorthanded and they got dominated on the boards and by having to give extra attention down low, they gave more space to the Blazers perimeter that had a good game: 20-26 FG at the rim and 11-33 treys! Portland's offense dominated in pick and rolls and spot ups as well, while a huge game for Carmelo Anthony wasn't enough for the Knicks to win tonight, as 10-37 (27%) 3pts isn't good enough for the Knicks to win games. Portland will now play in Toronto against a Raptors team that had 3 days off to rest and prepare for this game. Portland used their starters a lot last night, as LaMarcus Aldridge played 38 minutes, Nicolas Batum 40 minutes, Damian Lillard 40 minutes and Wesley Matthews 30 minutes. Toronto's offense has been super sharp lately even though they are playing at a really slow pace. If we exclude their game at San Antonio where they got shutdown, the Raptors are averaging an offensive rating of 120 over their last 7 games, while shooting 74% FG at the rim and 42% FG from 16-23 feet and 37% 3pts! The Raptors pick and rolls are also lethal with Jose Calderon and Kyle Lowry, their cuts have also been great and the truth is that they are #3 in the league on this kind of play. Even on transitions the Raptors offense is looking good! They won't have problems in scoring against a Blazers defense that doesn't protect well the rim, while their perimeter defense is also weak, as they are #29 on cuts defense, while being also out of the top 15 in pick and rolls defense. On a good spot, Toronto's offense should dominate today. Just like Toronto, Portland has been shooting well at the rim lately with 70% FG over their last 10 games, while also having a very good post up game and being an excellent rebounding team. Toronto's frontcourt might have some issues on defense tonight, however their frontcourt has improved lately without Andrea Bargnani. This is a clear revenge game for the Raptors, as they got crushed at Portland while scoring just 74 points. That game was played on a really poor spot for Toronto, on their final game of a road trip, where they were playing their third game in four nights, with that game being also a back-to-back one. It was the last game where Andrea Bargnani played and Portland crushed them even though they were without Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews! Toronto is now playing much better, they defend pick and rolls quite well, especially with Kyle Lowry back, so they should be able to limit Damian Lillard today. Toronto has a clear spot edge in here and they are ready to get revenge over the Blazers tonight, so I'll be taking Toronto in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 706 Toronto Raptors (-4) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker