Rockets vs Raptors NBA Odds and Score Prediction for both teams seeking Conference’s Play-in Tournaments

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Two teams trying to get into their respective conference’s play-in tournaments (at worst) meet Friday night as the Houston Rockets visit the Toronto Raptors looking for the season sweep, but the Raptors are slight favorites on the NBA odds and expected to debut a couple of new players. 2024 NBA Expert Analysis Houston vs Toronto | MyBookie Sportsbook NBA Week 16

How to Bet Rockets at Raptors NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Friday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Scotiabank Arena
TV: NBA League Pass
Stream: NBA.com, NBA TV app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Raptors -0.5 (total 57.5)

Rockets vs Raptors First Meeting

Last Friday, Toronto visited Houston and lost 135-106. Rookie Cam Whitmore scored a season-high 25 points and Alperen Sengun had 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in just three quarters for the Rockets. Houston led by double figures for most of the game and was up by 30 after three, allowing coach Ime Udoka to rest his starters for the entire fourth quarter. Scottie Barnes had 28 points and Immanuel Quickley added 25 for the Raptors. That ended the Rockets’ four-game losing streak in the series, which was tied for the longest by either team in the all-time series. Houston is trying to sweep the Raptors 2-0 for the third time going back to 2015-16 after not doing so once from 2006-07 through 2014-15.

Why Bet on Houston Rockets?

The Rockets are dominant at home but just 5-18 on the road and lost their second straight road game Tuesday, 132-129 at Indiana. Star Houston center Alperen Sengun had 20 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth consecutive double-double. He’s averaging 22.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game since the beginning of January.

Overall this season, Sengun is averaging 21.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 54.2% from the floor. He is one of five players averaging at least 21.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg and 5.0 apg, joining Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokić and Julius Randle. Three of those four have won an MVP Award.

Jalen Green had 30 points Tuesday and has scored 30+ in 4 of the past 7 games after doing so twice prior this season. He has shot 50.0% or better in 6 of the past 8 games after zero times the 11 games prior. Rookie Amen Thompson had 13 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. In two career starts, he has 28 points, 27 rebounds and 11 assists. This century, Thompson the sixth different rookie to have those totals over a span of two starts (Josh Giddey, Luka Dončić, Karl-Anthony Towns, Blake Griffin, Al Horford).

Dillon Brooks broke out of a slump with 23 points and is averaging 14.8 ppg on the road compared to 12.8 ppg at home. He is shooting 45.5% from 3-point range over the past five games after shooting 30.0% his previous six games played. Brooks is shooting a career-best 39.3% overall from 3.

The Rockets remain without starting point guard Fred VanVleet, a former Raptors All-Star who signed a big free-agent contract in Houston last summer. He’s dealing with a strained left adductor (inner thigh muscle) and probably out through the All-Star break. VanVleet played the first seven seasons of his NBA career with and was a core part of the team that won the 2019 NBA championship. He was named to the NBA all-star team in 2022, and holds the franchise record of points in a game with 54 against Orlando in 2021. This season, VanVleet is averaging 16.7 points, 8.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds.

Houston is 2-8 over its past 10 road games after winning 3 of its previous 5. The Rockets are 20-6 in games in which they have led by 10+ points this season and have 13 wins by double-digits, including 7 by 20+. Houston is outscoring opponents by an average of 1.0 ppg this season. The Rockets ranked 28th in points differential in 2022-22 at -7.9 ppg. The Rockets are 4-23 in games in which they trailed by double-digits this season and lost by 10+ points 10 times, including 20+ four times.

Houston is 18-3 when leading after three quarters of play this season (15-12 in 2022-23) and 5-24 when tied or trailing (7-48 in 2022-23). The Rockets are 6-7 in games decided by five or fewer points this season (9-8 in 2022-23), including 5-3 by three or fewer (5-4 in 2022-23).

Why Bet on Toronto Raptors?

The Raptors have been incredibly busy trade-wise since the end of December and they added two more before Thursday’s deadline, landing center and Canadian Kelly Olynyk and young guard Ochai Agbaji from the Utah Jazz for Otto Porter Jr., Kira Lewis Jr. and a first-round pick. Porter and Lewis barely played for Toronto if at all.

The 2024 first-round pick will be the least favorable of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets and the Jazz’s own selection. Olynyk, 32, has averaged 8.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and a career-high 4.4 assists per game this season. The 23-year-old Agbaji, a first-round pick in 2022 by Cleveland, has averaged 5.4 points in 51 games this season. Both should debut on Friday.

Toronto also made a lesser move that was more for salary reasons, sending guard Dennis Schroder and forward Thaddeus Young to Brooklyn for guard Spencer Dinwiddie. Schroder, 30, was averaging 13.7 points and 6.1 assists in 30.6 minutes per game for Toronto, which signed him to a two-year, $26 million contract this offseason. Young didn’t play much. Dinwiddie is a solid player but will never play for Toronto as he will be waived.

The Raptors were hoping to trade guard Bruce Brown as well after acquiring him last month from Indiana in the Pascal Siakam trade, but Brown will stay put now. He would have helped a lot of contenders.

This is Toronto’s first home game in more than two weeks as it finished a six-game road trip on Wednesday with a 2-4 record following a 123-117 win in Charlotte. The Raptors overcame a 15-point deficit, the fourth largest comeback this season. It marked the 15th time this season that Toronto had all five starters score 10+ points which is the third most in the NBA behind the Boston Celtics (20) and Atlanta Hawks (19). It was also the third time this season the Raptors have had seven players score 12+ points, tying the Hawks for the most such games this season. The Raptors improved to 3-2 when shooting 50% from the floor, including 50% from three-point range.

RJ Barrett returned after missing a game and had a team-high 23 points, six boards and five assists. Barrett has scored 20-or-more points in five consecutive games and in 10 of his last 12 games, averaging team-highs of 22.7 points and .568 shooting from the field in that span.

All-Star Scottie Barnes had 18 points and hit the 1,300 career field goal milestone in his 202nd career game on Wednesday. He is the third quickest Raptor in franchise history to reach the milestone behind Vince Carter (149 games) and Damon Stoudamire (187 games). Barnes leads the Raptors in points, rebounds, blocks, steals and minutes played. He is on track to join Giannis Antetokoumpo (2016-17), Anthony Davis (2013-14) and Kevin Garnett (1997-98 and 1998-99) as the only players age 22-or-younger to lead their teams in those respective categories since 1973-74.

Rockets vs Raptors Expert Prediction

Raptors 120, Rockets 117

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