Indiana at Toronto
Time: 7 PM ET, Jan 1, 2013
Line: IND -5.5
M/L: IND -220; TOR +180
Total: 190
Betting Odds courtesy of Bovada
The Indiana Pacers are one of just three teams in the Eastern Conference with a record better than .500. Its opponent, the Toronto Raptors, will look to reach the .500 mark with a victory in a game the Raptors are 5.5-point underdogs in according to NBA oddsmakers at Bovada.
The Raptors scored an 85-79 victory over the Chicago Bulls last night, as second-year center Jonas Valanciunas led the team with 15 points and nine rebounds. The Spaniard is averaging 10.5 points and 8.4 rebounds on the season and has made big strides.
The team rid itself of its glut of swingman by jettisoning Rudy Gay to Sacramento. Gay was acquired at the trade deadline last season, but the team was unimpressed with the forward relative to his large salary. DeMar DeRozan leads the Raps in scoring with 20.8 points per game and Kyle Lowry is still a good jack-of-all-trades point guard, who has been mentioned in trade talks this season.
The Raptors are a team without a superstar, but the cap situation is shaping up favorably and the team isn’t doing too badly all things considered. The Raptors are currently seeded fourth in the East and have to be considering trying to make a run in a year when only Indiana and Miami have assert themselves as contenders.
Indiana is 10-4 on the road this season and the Raptors aren’t a particularly dangerous team at home, as winners of just 5 of 13 at the Air Canada Center this season. Paul George has continued his ascent towards superstardom in the NBA with his 23.8 point per game scoring average and Lance Stephenson has had two triple doubles this season, as a strong bodied two-guard. The Pacers are the league’s best defensive team and that metric is evidenced by ranking 1st in the NBA in points allowed (89 per game).
IND TRENDS: 4-0 ATS in last 4 vs teams with losing SU records; 4-0 ATS in last 4 vs teams with home winning percentages below .400; UNDER 4-0 in last 4 road games vs teams with losing home records.
TOR TRENDS: OVER 5-0 in last 5 home games; 1-5 ATS in last 6 vs teams with winning percentages above .600; 5-1 ATS in last 6 overall.
Head-to-head: UNDER 4-1 in last 5 meetings; UNDER 4-1 in last 5 in Toronto; Pacers 2-5 ATS in last 7 meetings.
