Nets vs Raptors Betting Odds Preview: Brooklyn Continues Owning Toronto

Brooklyn Slightly Favored in Visit to Toronto

Brooklyn looks to make it four straight wins over Toronto this Friday night. The Nets vs Raptors betting odds favor Brooklyn, which has been on a roll since Jacques Vaughn took over as coach. And even more impressive is how Brooklyn has been playing like a functional NBA team instead of a reality TV outfit. As for Toronto, the Raptors are having shooting woes and are sliding down the standings.

Game Information

Brooklyn Nets are Focused and Healthy

Not only are the Brooklyn Nets moving past all the drama but they are healthy. Both are a rarity in today’s NBA, especially the latter. But as of now, Brooklyn’s best NBA players, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons, are available along with their full roster.

“We’ve committed ourselves to playing for and with each other,” Vaughn said. “That starts on the defensive end of the floor. We just ask the guys to play hard. At the end of the day, you can cover up a lot of things just by playing hard – just taking that approach, and I’ll continue to talk about the consistency of playing hard. That’s our next challenge.”

Indeed, if the Nets keep it up, Vaughn may just get Coach of the Year considerations. Since he relieved Steve Nash, the Nets have been a top-five NBA team in net rating (4.4). Brooklyn’s defensive rating, which was 19th last season and 23rd two seasons ago, is sixth (109.4) under Vaughn.

Brooklyn even went through a five-game stretch where it did not allow its opponents to hit the 100-point mark. The team has also won eight of its last nine games even if it is still 50-50 on the spreads. If the Nets can stay drama-free and focused, it may be a sharp bet on the NBA championship odds.

Heading to Toronto, the Nets are 8-6 against the spread (ATS) as a road team. They have also covered five of its last six games north of the border. Irving has torched the Raptors this season scoring 28.7 points with a 69 percent true shooting percent and a +21.5 net rating. He’s a big reason why the Nets vs Raptors betting odds favor a Nets sweep this season.

Toronto Raptors Plagued by Three-Point Shooting Drought

As Irving shoots Toronto’s lights out, the Raptors have been hard-pressed at knocking their shots down. Toronto is 29th in the NBA in effective field goal rate (50.7 percent). From deep, Toronto is shooting just 32 percent, which is the third-worst as well. The Raptors have dropped six of their last eight games partly due to this.

Toronto has hit below 30 percent from deep in 13 of its 28 games. The team is just 4-9 when it does. Uncoincidentally, Toronto is 6-0 when it shoots over 40 percent from three. But being 13-15 in the season is nothing new for Toronto. In fact, the team had the same record 28 games into last season. Toronto finished 47-35 and returned to the NBA playoffs. But Scottie Barnes, a catalyst for that team, is struggling in his sophomore outing.

“I feel like we play two-to-three quarters of good basketball, and then we just let up in one of the quarters,” Barnes said when asked about the team’s struggles. “It’s just about us. We got to just keep developing and keep getting better.”

This is still one of the NBA’s best two-way teams and one that is still developing. But against Brooklyn, betting on Toronto is a tough ask. And going by the Nets vs Raptors betting odds, the ‘under’ on the total might be a better play. Four of their last five games against each other have gone under as well as six of Toronto’s last seven conference games.
Follow us on Twitter

Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

• Clippers vs Blazers Betting Odds: Back the Road Team Early
• Celtics vs Suns Betting Analysis: Top Teams Meet in Phoenix
• Suns vs Mavericks Betting Preview: Scorching Suns Head to Dallas
• Heat vs Celtics Betting Tips: Can Boston Deliver as a Sizable Favorite?
• Hawks vs Knicks Matchup: Trae Returns to the Garden