The Toronto Raptors will be looking to snap a three-game season-opening losing streak when they take on the visiting New York Knicks on Thursday night as 9.5-point favourites on the NBA odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto saw its early season woes continue with Tuesday’s 100-93 loss in Philadelphia, which also left the team winless against the spread going into Thursday night’s matchup at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay.
For the third time in as many outings the Raptors let an early double-digit lead slip away in Tuesday’s loss as 1.5-point underdogs at betting sites. The team particularly struggled while leading in the fourth quarter, tallying just six points over the final 6:55 of the contest to go a meagre 35.6% from the field on the night. Faced with the possibility of losing four in a row to tip off a season for the first time since 2005, the Raptors have lost ground on the NBA championship odds, where they now lag in the middle of the pack as a +3000 bet.
On a positive note, the Raptors have dominated the Knicks in recent years, posting straight-up wins in 16 of their last 17 meetings. Toronto has also been a reliable wager against New York, going 10-4 against the spread in their past 14 matchups. However, they could be in for a tougher test against a New York team that arrives at the Raptors’ temporary Florida home riding a promising two-game SU win streak.
The Knicks have rebounded since opening their schedule with consecutive crushing losses to Indiana and Philadelphia. The team recorded the biggest upset of the young NBA season with a decisive 130-110 win over the Milwaukee Bucks as 13-point home underdogs on Sunday, and followed up with a 95-86 victory in Cleveland on Tuesday as 3.5-point underdogs.
New York has gotten things done during its current 2-0 SU and ATS run with steady defence early on, and lights-out shooting from beyond the arc. The Knicks limited the Cavaliers to just 15 first-quarter points while going 14-for-25 on three-point attempts on the night. That mirrored their steady performance against the Bucks, whom they limited to just 18 second-quarter points, and a dismal 7-for-38 on three-pointers.
However, lengthy SU win streaks have been exceedingly rare for the Knicks, who have tallied three straight victories on just three occasions since the start of the 2018/19 NBA season. New York has also struggled as a big underdog in road dates with Toronto, going winless SU and ATS in their past seven away meetings according to the OddsShark NBA Database.
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