Losers of nine of their last 10 games, the Toronto Raptors will look to get back on track Friday night when they host the Miami Heat.
Line: Raptors -5.5, Total: 204.5 (check The Linemakers on Sporting News’ odds page for current NBA point spreads and totals)
The last time Toronto defeated Miami was in January 2010. Of course, this is a different Heat team. But when these two sides last met in November 2014, the Heat came out on top 107-102, despite DeMar DeRozan's 30 points.
AccuScore has the Raptors as 56.4 percent favorites to win Friday night. The average score after AccuScore ran its 10,000-plus simulations is 101-100.
AccuScore Best Bet No. 1: There's nearly a 60 percent chance Miami covers a +5.5 spread, a four-star (out of four) AccuScore hot trend. In the past week, AccuScore has gone 28-23 (54.9%, +270 units) when picking point spreads. When the ATS simulation has differed by 2-4 points when compared to Vegas, as it does in this game, AccuScore has gone 19-12 (61.3%, +580 units) in the past week. Also in the past week, when the home team is favored by 4-5.5 points, AccuScore is 5-0 (100%, +500 units).
Miami is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Toronto.
AccuScore Best Bet No. 2: There's a 57 percent chance the total combined score stays UNDER 204.5. In the past week, AccuScore is 31-22 (58.5%, +680 units) when predicting totals. Also in the past week, when the total sim has differed by 4.5 to 6 points when compared to Vegas, as it does in this matchup, AccuScore is 19-9 (67.9%, +910 units).
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Toronto's last 7 games at home.
Projected Leaders
Dwyane Wade: 20 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 TOs
DeMar DeRozan: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 TOs
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