Toronto still has a faint pulse to keep playing after the regular season is finished, trailing Washington by three games for the last spot. Can the Raptors keep the dream alive with another triumph in L.A.?
This season has been an exercise in futility for Toronto, trying to hang in despite a vast amount of injuries, a large virus issue, which has led to frustration boiling over a few times this season. The Raptors are probably not going to reach an Eastern Conference play-in game, but with Nick Nurse as the head coach, every last effort will be made to reach that destination.
The Los Angeles Clippers (43-22, 35-39-1 ATS) have dropped three straight and have not beaten a spread in four consecutive tries and they too are feeling the effects of not having all the right players together. The Clippers fell to the 4th position in the Western Conference in their loss to Denver Saturday.
Tuesday, May. 4, 10:05 pm ET (TNT) at Staples Center
YouWager and other top online sports betting sites have the Clippers as 9-point home favorites with a total of 220.5. Who has the edge in this matchup?
Without Fred VanVleet, Chris Boucher and Gary Trent Jr., where the offense comes from aside from Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam is unknown. In the 121-114 upset over the Lakers Saturday as 10.5-point underdogs, Lowry and Siakam combined for 76 points and were 27 for 46 from the field. That’s not going to happen every time out and getting at least VanVleet back would be a large help, since he is on day-to-day status. In order to secure a second straight upset, Lowry and Siakam will likely have to reach better than 60 points together and others cannot be space-eaters, they have to be productive in scoring and on defense.
If VanVleet returns, that helps, but players like Stanley Johnson, Rodney Hood and DeAndre’ Bembry have to play aggressively when called upon and have a positive plus/minus rating for their time on the floor. If that happens, Toronto (27-38, 29-36 ATS) has a shot.
Kawhi Leonard returned and had 16 points, six assists and five rebounds in 30 minutes in the Clippers’ 110-104 loss to Denver. Though nobody was happy about the loss, Ty Lue and his club are not worried about finishing third or fourth in the West. They don’t view Utah, Phoenix, or Denver as unbeatable if they can get back to 100 percent health. The belief in the locker room is they can work together as a group for the remainder of the regular season and reconnect collectively on offense and defense, there isn’t anybody capable of beating them in a series west of the Mississippi.
However, the problem is obvious, as in the Clips past four contests they’ve averaged 104.2 PPG, which is more than 10 points a game less than their season average. That is why performing together and having Leonard and Paul George mesh as opposed to running separate plays will help Lue’s crew.
For NBA picks at the sportsbook of your choice, this seems like a bust-out effort for the Clippers. Besides sputtering on offense, the defense won’t end up for promotional usage on YouTube for toughness and stability and they are 12-2 ATS after three straight games allowing a shooting percentage of 47% or higher. We don’t know how many true scoring options Toronto will have, but rest assured the L.A. defense will have their eye on Siakam and Lowry and dare others to step up and make shots regularly. A rather strong key for the Clippers? They are 29-10 ATS when they score 112 or more points this season.
NBA Picks: Clippers -9 points (-110) at YouWager