Toronto Raptors are travelling to Amway Center to face off against Orlando Magic in hopes to bounce back from defeat against Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
Toronto won 4 games in a row, but were stopped by Hawks on Saturday (121:125). Looking at that match, Raptors were not performing well in the first 2 quarters, as they were down by 17 points by the end of 1st half. They did in fact manage to step up their game in 3rd (30-26) and 4th (39-30) quarter, but still fell short of 4 points at the end. Raptors shot 54.7% from the field and committed 9 turnovers, whereas Hawks shot 53.5% from the field and gave up the ball 14 times. Best scorer of the match was DeRozan (34pts, 4 ast and 5 rebounds), followed by Lowry (27pts, 6ast and 2 rebounds). In the current season, Raptors are averaging 112.3ppg (3rd best in the league) and letting opponents score 103.9ppg (ranked 14th in the league). All in all they are having a great season so far, currently sitting at 2nd spot in Eastern Conference with a solid record of 18-8. Looking at their away performances, they do perform better on the road (8-3) compared to home games (10-5).
Orlando Magic have won only 2 games out of last 6. They failed to defeat Celtics (87:117), Hornets (109:88), Nuggets (113:121) and Clippers (108:113), whereas they won against Hawks (120:131) and Nets (118:111). In the match against Nets, we witnessed a close game till the last quarter. Orlando were down by 3 in the first quarter, but managed to turn it around before the end of the 1st half. They went into the second half with 1 point lead (53-52). 3rd quarter ended with each side scoring 30 points so it was all going to be decided in the last 12 minutes. Magic seemed to find they rhythm in 4th quarter, outscoring the visiting side by 6 points (35:29) and securing the win. Top 2 scorers for Orlando were Vucevic (21pts) and Fournier (21pts). Magic shot 40.2% from the field and committed 7 turnovers. Nets on the other hand shot 47% from the field and committed 17 turnovers. With a win on Saturday against Nets, Orlando Magic finally managed to break their 6 straight losses at home stadium. Now they are sitting at 12th position in Eastern Conference with a record of 12-16.
Verdict & Prediction
Toronto Raptors did not perform well in their last game against Hawks, especially in the defensive end of the court. They are not the best team when it comes to defending the basket, but they can do much better. The upcoming match against Orlando should not cause much problems for Raptors. Toronto is a better team in my eyes and they will show that tonight.
Prediction: Toronto Raptors -5.5
Odds: 1.91 SBOBET
