Toronto at Brooklyn Odds, Pick & TV Info

Just a five-game schedule in the NBA on Tuesday and the apparent mismatch of the night is from Brooklyn as the Nets, certainly the least-talented team in the league, host the second-best club in the East, the Toronto Raptors. They will be heavy favorites in NBA betting, but might the Dinos rest a key guy or two?

Toronto at Brooklyn Odds, Pick & TV Info

Tonight’s Raps // Knicks @BMO Game Highlights. #WeTheNorth

Watch: https://t.co/f31b3yiWiv — Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 16, 2017

When: Tuesday, Jan. 17, 7:30 PM ET Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn TV: NBA League Pass Stream: NBA TV Radio: Toronto / New Jersey NBA Odds: Raptors favored by TBA

Why Bet on Toronto?

The Raptors (27-13) won their third straight game on Sunday, 116-104 over the visiting New York Knicks as the Raptors concluded a four-game homestand at 3-1. Toronto had a 25-2 edge in the first 9:20 of the third and coasted. DeMar DeRozan had 23 points, five rebounds and five assists to lead the Raptors. He joined most of Toronto’s starters in resting in the fourth quarter. Norman Powell added 21 points, DeMarre Carroll had 20 points, and Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 16 rebounds. The Raptors led by 38 points in the third in winning their fifth in a row against the Knicks. Ever since head coach Dwane Casey challenged Valanciunas to earn his minutes by dominating his matchup, he has been a double-double machine owning averages of 14.0 points and 12.3 rebounds per contest on 53.1 percent shooting. Forward Patrick Patterson (sore left knee) did not play Sunday vs. the Knicks. He missed his second game in a row. It's not likely that Patterson will play in Brooklyn. Fellow power forward Jared Sullinger (foot) said he won't set a return date despite being cleared for practice. “My main focus is just trying to get my legs back under me,” Sullinger said. “I feel like everybody else is in tip-top shape and I’m just lagging. I can’t keep up with [Jakob Poeltl] off the dribble, so, I got a lot of work to do.” He added that he has “no lungs” right now. Sullinger, signed this offseason from Boston, has yet to make his Raptors debut. Toronto set a franchise-record with 132 points Jan. 13 vs. Brooklyn. It was the most points in a non-overtime game in team history, surpassing the 131 points scored Apr. 14, 2010 vs. New York. The Raptors rank third in the NBA this season scoring 115+ points in 17 games. Only Golden State (26) and Houston (20) have more games scoring 115+ points. The franchise-record for most points in a game is 136 which happened in triple-overtime during an NBA Global Game in London on March 5, 2011 against New Jersey.

Why Bet on Brooklyn?

The Nets (8-32) lost their 10th straight game Sunday, 137-112. The Rockets matched their season high with a 74-point first half, though the Nets hung with them pretty well and only trailed by eight. Houston opened the third quarter with a 13-2 run to build an 87-68 cushion that grew to 20 later. Trevor Booker scored 18 points for the Nets, who were still without Jeremy Lin (strained left hamstring) on the night they gave out his bobblehead and also rested Brook Lopez. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 14 points and Randy Foye scored a season-high 13. Justin Hamilton started vs. the Rockets in place of Lopez and had a career-high three blocks with 11 points on 5-of- 7 shooting, three boards and two assists in just 18 minutes. Head coach Kenny Atkinson said that the Nets having played six games in nine nights, including a Thursday-Friday back-to- back set is the reason why he rested Lopez. He should be back Tuesday. Lopez has scored 20+ points in each of his last four games, just one 20-point game shy of matching his longest streak of the season (five, done from 12/12-12/22). In those four games, he’s averaged 21.5 ppg (.477 FG, .783 FT), 3.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.0 spg and 1.3 bpg in 31.2 mpg. The Nets matched a franchise record set earlier this season with 44 3-point attempts. They have made 15 or more in consecutive games for just the second time in their history. The Rockets and Nets combined for 88 three-point attempts on Sunday, tying the NBA record for most combined attempts. The Rockets have been involved in all 3 games tied with 88 attempts. As noted above, the Nets just played Toronto on Jan. 13 and lost 132-113. DeRozan scored 28 points, and Kyle Lowry added 20. The six straight wins matched Toronto’s longest winning streak over the Nets, established between Jan. 28, 2009, and Dec. 17, 2010. Bojan Bogdanovic had 23 points and Lopez added 20. After trading leads 16 times over the first three quarters, the Raptors finally took control to start the fourth, going on an 18-2 run over the first 3:45 to open up a 17-point lead. They eventually extended that to 22 with 3:45 to play and emptied their bench down the stretch.

Toronto at Brooklyn Pick:

This could be a bit of a trap game for Toronto. Nets won’t win but I believe will cover on NBA odds.