The Toronto Raptors will look to put an end to their long losing streak when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Sunday, March 21. This game will tip off at 7 p.m. ET with the Raptors coming in as rather large favorites on the road despite losing seven consecutive games.
In Friday night’s loss to the Utah Jazz, Toronto played its first game with a full team in months as five players returned from the NBA’s health and safety protocols recently after missing several games. Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Malachi Flynn and Patrick McCaw returned to the team recently, and OG Anunoby came back against the Jazz.
In the loss, the Raptors kept it close with Utah, which came in with the best record, in a 115-112 home loss at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Siakam led Toronto with 27 points on 9 of 22 shooting from the floor. He also knocked down four 3-pointers with nine assists and five rebounds. Five other players scored in double digits for the Raptors including Norman Powell (17), VanVleet (17), Chris Boucher (16), Anunoby (15) and Kyle Lowry (14).
Toronto shot well as a team, hitting 48.2% of its shots including 47.7% from beyond the three-point line.
Donovan Mitchell was too much for the Raptors, as he finished with a game-high 31 points on 8 of 20 shooting with six assists and five rebounds. Despite the high point total, he missed all nine of his three-point attempts. However, he made up for it on the free throw line where he knocked down 15 of 16 foul shots.
Free throws were a huge difference as several of Toronto’s key players continue to try and get their legs under them after a long layoff. Mitchell made more free throws by himself than the Raptors did as a team. Toronto made 11 of 14 shots, while Utah got to the line 41 times, making 35 of them.
Toronto dropped to 17-24 this season, which last place in the Atlantic Division and the 11th best record in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors will meet the Cleveland Cavaliers, which enter with a 15-26 record, the 13th best mark in the East.
Both teams come into this game on a losing skid as the Cavaliers have lost five of their last six games coming in. They were defeated by the San Antonio Spurs 116-110 on Friday night. Darius Garland and Collin Sexton each scored 29 points to lead Cleveland.
The Raptors will be at full strength from an injury perspective, while Cleveland will continue to go in without a few key players for various reasons. The Cavaliers will be without Matthew Dellavedova, Andre Drummond, Kevin Love and Taurean Prince. In addition, JaVale McGee is questionable to play with an illness.
This is the first matchup between these two teams this season.
Toronto Raptors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Info
Below are a list of Raptors odds for Sunday’s matchup for the main betting categories with the point spread, point total and moneyline, along with some recent betting trends. All odds are via a popular United States sportsbook.
Point Spread
Toronto will enter as 7.5-point favorites with -110 on each side.
Betting Trends: Toronto is 1-3 against the spread in its last four games, and Cleveland is 1-4 against the number in its last five.
Point Total
Oddsmakers set the over/under for this game at 217.5 with slightly better odds toward the over.
Betting Trends: The total went over in six of Toronto’s last nine games, and the over hit in four of Cleveland’s last six.
Moneyline
As the favorite, the Raptors are getting significant moneyline odds at -305 to come out with a victory, while the Cavaliers have +245 odds to pull off the upset at home.
Betting Trends: Toronto has lost each of its last seven games, while Cleveland won one of its last six.
What’s Next?
After Sunday’s game, Toronto will stay on the road for a game against the Houston Rockets on Monday, March 22 at 9 p.m. ET from the Toyota Center before a three-game homestand.
