The Toronto Raptors (45-30) travel to the Barclays Center to take on the Brooklyn Nets (34-40) in a battle of the Atlantic Division’s top two teams. The game gets underway at 7:30 pm ET on Friday, Apr. 3 and will air on TSN2 and YES.
The Nets edged the Knicks 100-98 on Wednesday. Deron Williams was the game’s high scorer with 26 points on 11-for-21 shooting. The Raptors, meanwhile, are coming off a 113-99 win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday. DeMar DeRozan played well, accumulating 17 points, three assists, and two rebounds.
Brook Lopez has really been playing well as of late for the Nets, averaging 25.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.6 steals, and 2.8 blocks over the last five games.
The Raptors have won two out of three against the Nets this season, but dropped their most recent game, 109-93. Jarrett Jack was the game’s leading scorer with 24 points.
Oddsmakers have deemed this game an even matchup and the Over/Under (O/U) is presently unavailable. The Nets look to improve upon their records of 34-40 Straight Up (SU) and 35-37-2 Against The Spread (ATS). They have gone 9-6 SU and 8-7 ATS against teams from their own division. Over their past 10 games, Brooklyn’s offense has been playing lights out, averaging 107.2 points per game, well over their season average of 97.7.
On the other side, Toronto has a SU record of 45-30 and an ATS record of 35-39-1. Although they’ve done very well in road games against divisional foes (5-1), Toronto sports a lackluster 2-4 record ATS. The Raptors rank fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 104.2 points per game. The Raptors are shooting lights out from the foul line so far, with a .788 free throw percentage that ranks second in the NBA. Don’t expect Toronto to give away the ball much on offense, where its 12.1 turnovers per game ranks third in the league.
Brooklyn won the last meeting this season between these two teams, evening up the two teams’ head-to-head record over the last 10 games. However, with a 6-3-1 record, the Nets have the advantage ATS. Toronto held the edge in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers once in the last 10, while Brooklyn wasn’t able to do so in that span.
Predictions: SU Winner – TOR, ATS Winner – TOR
Notes
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Brooklyn’s last 10 games.
Brooklyn is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games.
Brooklyn is 2-5-2 ATS in its last 9 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Brooklyn’s last 6 games at home.
Brooklyn is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Brooklyn’s last 8 games when playing at home against Toronto.
Brooklyn is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Toronto.
Toronto is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Brooklyn.
Brooklyn ranks 22nd in points per game with 97.7, while Toronto ranks 20th in points allowed with an average of 101.1 given up.
Toronto ranks third in points allowed per road game (104.3 PPG), while Brooklyn ranks 22nd in points per home game with 97.9.
When allowing fewer than 100 points, the Nets are 24-15 on the season. When the Raptors score fewer than 100, they are an underachieving 9-17.
When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Nets are just 10-25 this season. Toronto is a solid 36-13 when it hits the century mark.
The Raptors have a defensive rating of 104.7 (ranked 25th). The Nets rank 19th for their offensive rating of 101.3.
With 96.5 possessions and 1.013 points per possession, the Brooklyn Nets perform worse on both metrics than the Toronto Raptors. Toronto averages 96.6 possessions and 1.079 points per possession.
Toronto has an average effective field goal percentage of 50.8% (ranked eighth in the league}. Brooklyn is a poor 9-25 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, the Toronto Raptors make 20.9 assists per game and the Brooklyn Nets make 20.8. Toronto is ranked 21st, while Brooklyn is ranked 22nd.
The Brooklyn Nets average 4.2 blocks per game for a rank of 25th. The Toronto Raptors rank higher (23rd), earning 4.4 blocks each contest.
Brooklyn is ranked 24th in offensive rebounding. Toronto ranks 27th in defensive rebounds.
The Toronto Raptors average 7.5 steals per game. When giving up 7 or more steals, the Brooklyn Nets have a losing record (17-29) this season.
