The Toronto Raptors will be looking to build on a schedule-ending 7-1 straight-up run when they open their first-round NBA playoff series with the Orlando Magic on Saturday as 9-point favourites on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto closed out the regular season with a decisive 120-100 win in Minnesota on Tuesday, marking the team’s sixth victory by a double-digit margin in seven outings ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game at Scotiabank Arena.
The Raptors’ strong play down the stretch solidified their hold on second place in the Eastern Conference standings, just two games back of first-place Milwaukee, and they enter their clash with Orlando perched as strong -1200 favourites on the NBA series prices.
Toronto also sits third on the NBA championship odds, trailing both Milwaukee and the heavily favoured Golden State Warriors as a +950 bet to claim their first NBA title in franchise history.
While the Raptors have claimed series wins in the opening round of the playoffs in each of the past three years, the team has a lot to prove this time around. Toronto has failed to post a victory in their past two trips to the second round, suffering four-game sweeps at the hands of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. With their arch-nemesis out of the playoff picture for the first time in 14 years, the Raptors will be looking to rewrite their narrative this spring.
However, the Raptors cannot afford to look past the Magic, who handed them a first-round playoff series loss in five games in their only previous postseason meeting, back in 2008. Orlando clinched a berth in the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2012 with an impressive stretch run, posting SU wins in 11 of its final 13 contests, including outright wins as betting underdogs in road dates with the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets.
The Magic also enjoyed some success in meetings with the Raptors this season, splitting four games including a 113-98 win in Toronto as 7-point underdogs. Orlando has also dominated Toronto at the sportsbooks, going 11-5-1 in 17 overall meetings since November 2014, according to the OddsShark NBA Database.
However, Orlando sports a dismal 3-23 SU record in its past 29 outings while pegged as a road underdog by nine or more points, including a 1-5 SU and 3-3 ATS mark this season. Not surprisingly, the Magic also sit near the bottom of the NBA futures, lagging as a lengthy +10000 bet to claim the NBA title.
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