The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors will both be trying to pick up a win on Sunday when they battle at Air Canada Centre.
Cleveland At Toronto
When: 6:00 PM ET, Sunday, March 10, 2013
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Ohio (Cleveland), SNET1 (Toronto)
PREDICTION: Raptors 100, Cavaliers 97
Oddsmakers currently have the Raptors listed as 6-point favorites versus the Cavaliers, while the game’s total is sitting at 203.
Cleveland has one of the top, young backcourt duos in the league with point guard Kyrie Irving (23.2 points, 5.7 assists) and rookie shooting guard Dion Waiters, who are the team’s top two scorers. Irving has topped 20 points in three straight games and has 32 games of 20 or more points this season. Waiters leads all Eastern Conference rookies in scoring (14.6 per game), assists (3.2 per game) and steals (1 per game). Forward Tristan Thompson (11.4 points, 9.3 rebounds) teams with that duo to give the Cavs three promising players age 21 or younger.
Cleveland was a 103-92 loser in its last match at home against the Grizzlies. They failed to cover the 4.5-point spread as underdogs, while the total score of 195 sent OVER bettors to the payout window.
Cleveland:
Team record: 21-41 SU, 32-30 ATS
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 5 games when playing on the road against Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 5 of last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 6 games when playing Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 6 of last 9 games
When playing on Sunday are 6-4
Before playing Washington are 5-5
After playing Memphis are 2-8
After a loss are 6-4
Toronto has a new star in Rudy Gay, who has put up 19.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in 16 contests since being acquired from Memphis. Gay teams with DeMar DeRozan (17.8 points) to form a dynamic scoring duo, and Kyle Lowry (12.6 points, 6.1 assists) is settling into his role as a distributor. Forward Andrea Bargnani (12.7 points) is back on the mend after leaving Friday’s game against the Lakers with a strained right elbow. Bargnani, who missed 26 games earlier this season with a torn right elbow ligament and strained right wrist, is listed as day-to-day.
Last time out for Toronto, they were a 118-116 loser as they battled the Lakers on the road. The Raptors covered in the match as a 7.5-point underdog, while 234 combined points moved the game OVER for totals bettors.
Toronto:
Team record: 24-39 SU, 32-30-1 ATS
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 5 games when playing at home against Cleveland
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 6 games when playing Cleveland
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of last 6 games at home
is 8-16 SU in its last 24 games when playing Cleveland
When playing on Sunday are 3-7
Before playing Boston are 4-6
After playing LA Lakers are 2-8
After a loss are 4-6
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