The Toronto Raptors went 3-1 against the Indiana Pacers during the regular season both straight up and against the spread, and they’ll be looking to continue that winning trend on Saturday afternoon as the teams get the NBA playoffs underway with Game 1 of their first-round series at the Air Canada Centre.
The Raptors haven’t had any trouble with the Pacers over the last few seasons, with Toronto going 8-2 SU and 9-1 ATS against Indiana dating back to early 2014 according to the OddsShark NBA Database. And the Raptors finished 11 games ahead of the Pacers in the Eastern standings en route to the second seed in the conference behind only the Cavaliers.
That has the Raptors set as the -337 favourites to get past the Pacers on the NBA first-round series prices at the sportsbooks, with Indiana a +222 underdog on those betting lines.
Toronto enters the playoffs this weekend as the Atlantic Division champion for the third straight season, but last year they were swept in the first round by the Washington Wizards and two years ago they fell in seven games in their opening series against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Raptors’ lone playoff series win came way back in 2000/01 against the New York Knicks.
The Raptors are 6.5-point home favourites against the Pacers for Game 1 on Saturday afternoon, but they’re still underdogs on the odds to win the Eastern Conference behind LeBron James and the Cavaliers heading into the postseason. Toronto is at +500 to win the East, while Cleveland leads the way on those betting futures at -260.
The Cavaliers are matched up against the Detroit Pistons in the first round, and they’re listed as 10.5-point home favourites for Game 1 of their series on Sunday afternoon. The Atlanta Hawks are listed as 5-point home favourites against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, while the Miami Heat are 4.5-point home favourites against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
Over in the Western Conference the Golden State Warriors are 13-point home favourites on Saturday afternoon against the Houston Rockets as they begin their NBA title defense, while the Oklahoma City Thunder are 11.5-point home chalk in their Game 1 matchup against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.
The San Antonio Spurs are the biggest Game 1 favourites on the board at -15.5 at home against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night, with the Los Angeles Clippers rounding out the weekend as 8-point home favourites against the Portland Trail Blazers.
