The Toronto Raptors will be looking to maintain the momentum that has lifted them to third place in the overall NBA standings when they host the Phoenix Suns on Friday night as 7.5-point home favourites on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto entered last weekend’s all-star break on its hottest run of the season, recording straight-up wins in 15 of 16 contests going into Friday night’s matchup at Scotiabank Arena.
The Raptors’ recent record-setting 15-game SU win streak featured seven outright victories on home hardwood. Despite that success, the team has struggled at times to reward bettors when playing at home, going 5-2 against the spread during its recent win streak, and 6-6 SU in its past 12 overall at home, according to the OddsShark NBA Database. However, the Raptors have been a reliable wager this season when favoured by seven or more points, racking up a perfect 15-0 SU record while going 10-1 ATS on home court.
The team’s recent strong performance has yet to translate into steady gains at the sportsbooks. Despite trailing only the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the league standings, the Raptors continue to lag behind the favourites as a +2000 wager to repeat as NBA champions at online sports betting sites. And while the Raptors have emerged as -125 favourites to claim a third straight Atlantic Division crown, they remain back at +700 odds to win the Eastern Conference title.
Historically, the Raptors have come out of the NBA All-Star Break on a high. The team sports a solid 5-1 SU record over its past six contests immediately following the all-star game, and has also regularly dominated in recent dates with Phoenix, posting SU wins in each of their past four meetings. However, the Raptors have been a betting disappointment when facing the Suns in recent seasons, going winless ATS in 12 overall matchups since the start of the 2013-14 season.
The Suns kick off a three-game road trip in Toronto after closing out the unofficial first half of the NBA campaign with a 112-106 victory over Golden State. But wins have been scarce of late for Phoenix, which has gone 2-6 SU in its past eight contests. The road has been particularly unkind to the Suns, who have gone 1-5 SU and ATS in their past six dates away from Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Phoenix has fallen to defeat by an average margin of 16.1 points over its five recent road defeats, but sports a 4-4 ATS record this season when set as a road underdog of seven or more points.
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