The Toronto Raptors will be looking to avoid losing three games in a row on home court for the first time since December 2015 when they host the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night as 13.5-point favourites on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto remains winless on its current three-game homestand after suffering a 115-114 loss to Charlotte on Sunday that now leaves the club lagging four games back of the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks ahead of Tuesday’s Bulls vs. Raptors betting matchup at Scotiabank Arena.
A half-court buzzer-beater from Jeremy Lamb sealed the Raptors’ loss to the Hornets as heavy 11.5-point home chalk, and extended a worrisome trend that has seen the team fall to outright defeat as betting favourites in four of their past eight home outings.
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The Raptors have also emerged as a major disappointment on the NBA odds, going 6-12 against the spread over their past 18 contests, and covering in just three of their past 11 dates on home hardwood, according to the OddsShark NBA Database.
And the team’s recent swoon has done little to help them maintain momentum on the NBA futures. The Raptors have lost ground in their see-saw battle with Milwaukee on the odds to win the Eastern Conference title, where they now lag as a +220 wager, and also sit third on the NBA championship odds, just ahead of the surging Philadelphia 76ers, at +950.
However, a clash with the Bulls may be just what Toronto needs to regain its momentum entering the final three weeks of the NBA season. The Raptors have taken seven straight from Chicago, including four home victories, capped by a 95-89 win as 10.5-point home favourites on Dec. 30.
In addition, Toronto can look forward to facing a Bulls squad coming off a lopsided 114-83 loss to the Utah Jazz as 11-point home underdogs on Saturday, which dumped them to 3-8 straight up in their past 11 outings.
The Bulls’ recent slide features losses in four of five road outings, with their lone win coming last week in Phoenix where they handed the Western Conference basement-dwelling Suns a 116-101 beating as 2.5-point underdogs.
Chicago has produced respectable results at the sportsbooks in recent road contests, going 9-4-1 ATS over their past 14 such outings. However, that stretch of success does not extend to road dates while pegged as underdogs of 10 or more points, with the Bulls winning just once in their past 30 such outings, and going 6-12 ATS in their past 18.
Following Tuesday’s contest, the Raptors make a Thursday visit to New York where they’ll be gunning for a sixth straight victory over the last-place Knicks.
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