The Toronto Raptors will be looking to build on a 113-93 victory over the Golden State Warriors when they continue their current western swing in Portland on Friday.
Toronto silenced many of its critics with Wednesday’s decisive win over Golden State as 8-point underdogs, which leaves the club unbeaten over the first two outings of its four-game road trip going into Friday night’s Raptors versus Trail Blazers betting matchup at Moda Center.
The Raptors have outclassed the opposition during their brief two-game straight-up win streak, which started with Tuesday’s 123-99 demolition of the Los Angeles Clippers as 3-point chalk on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto has gotten the job done without the services of Kawhi Leonard, who was sidelined for each of the team’s recent wins as he recovers from a hip injury and remains questionable for Friday night’s date with the Blazers. As well, centre Jonas Valanciunas will miss at least a month’s worth of action after suffering a hand injury against Golden State.
Point guard Kyle Lowry has risen to the occasion in Leonard’s absence, rebounding from a shaky five-game stretch by draining 21 points against the Clippers and dropping a team-leading 23 points and collecting 12 assists in Wednesday’s win over the Warriors.
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The Raptors continue to lead the league with a 23-7 straight-up record, including an NBA-best 12-3 SU mark on the road. The club has struggled to produce consistent results at the sportsbooks in away contests, though, and can cover in three straight on the road for the first time this season with an against the spread win in Portland.
The Trail Blazers return home for Friday’s game after suffering consecutive losses on the road, capped by a 92-83 defeat in Memphis as 3.5-point underdogs on Wednesday night. With the loss, Portland tumbled to 5-10 SU in its past 15 games overall, but has enjoyed some success on home hardwood, posting outright wins in three of its past four.
Portland has also struggled in recent clashes with the Raptors, losing six straight SU, including three consecutive home losses, two as betting favourites, according to the OddsShark NBA Database. Recent meetings in Portland between these two teams have proven to be low-scoring affairs, with the Raptors limiting the Trail Blazers to just 93 points per game in three matchups, fuelling a 3-1 run for the UNDER in totals betting.
Following Friday’s contest the Raptors move on to Denver for the final date on their western swing on Sunday. The Nuggets have shown considerable improvement this season and find themselves in a tight three-way race with the Warriors and Oklahoma City for top spot in the Western Conference standings, and have covered in seven straight meetings with Toronto.
