The Toronto Raptors will look to stay perfect at home this season when they play host to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday as 8.5-point favourites on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto is coming off a 104-95 win over Orlando on Monday, lifting the club’s straight-up record to 3-1 on the season, including wins in two home contests ahead of Wednesday night’s Pistons vs. Raptors betting matchup at Scotiabank Arena.
The Raptors enjoyed their fastest start of the young season in their victory over the Magic as 5-point home chalk, draining 31 points in the first quarter. With the victory, the Raptors remain undefeated SU and against the spread in three outings as betting favourites. In addition, Toronto is now 14-4 SU in 18 overall home contests since late March.
However, a late-game letdown that briefly gave the Magic a fourth-quarter lead continues a trend that has seen the Raptors get outscored in the final frame in three of their four outings, surrendering an average of 29.25 fourth-quarter points per game. That includes a fourth-quarter meltdown in last week’s date with Boston, with the Celtics outgunning the Raptors by a 36-24 margin to tally a 112-106 victory.
Toronto also enjoyed no success in meetings with the Pistons last season. Led by former Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, the Pistons swept the season series with Toronto, posting SU and ATS wins in all three meetings. The Pistons marched to victory on the strength of impressive fourth-quarter rallies in each of those contests, including their lone date at Scotiabank Arena on November 14 in which they outscored the Raptors by a 29-16 margin in the final frame to eke out a 106-104 victory as 9.5-point underdogs.
The Pistons closed out a three-game homestand on Monday with a 96-94 win over the Indiana Pacers as 2-point underdogs at online betting sites. Detroit now sports a 2-2 SU and ATS record on the season, including a victory in its lone road contest to date, a 119-110 rout of the Pacers as a 7.5-point underdog.
Detroit’s opening night win in Indiana marked the club’s first outright victory in their past six while pegged as a road underdog of seven or more points, and just their third in 23 contests since January 2018. However, the Pistons have regularly covered while listed as lengthy road underdogs, going 5-2 ATS in their past seven.
With Blake Griffin sidelined by a hamstring injury, the Pistons’ bench, led by Derrick Rose, has been picking up the scoring slack, contributing 57 points per game over their first four outings.
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