Weed The North - Season Long Raptors Thread

Interested to see what you say about the PHI game tmro ~

76ers @ Raps

Lean:

Raps 1Q -2

Raps 1H -3.5

Raps FG -6.5

Just see thing game as a drubbing for the home team...Philly has been a very poor road team, and have very little true depth on their bench...following a very poor 1st H vs Denver, i think Torotno comes out in fire from the get go, and just extends the lead all game long.

Something like 118-108 Raps

Raps with a huge home win vs their closest divisional challenger...huge 4 game cushion now following a perfectly played game...their overall depth grinded away the Sixers into submission by the 4th Q...the 3 headed center postition of Ibaka Valinciunas and now Monroe showed the league a perfect blueprint on how to limit Embiid...Siakam further establishes himself as a superstar in the making - this guy should win most improved player in the nba this season...Delon Wright looked great in his playtime, and what can be said about Leonard...this guy is getting better every game...and his ceiling is scary on both sides of the ball...i only wish Anunoby stops taking 3s as hes clearly in a slump, he should be driving to the rim and look for easy baskets to get that confidence back...dont really know where CJ Miles fits on this team anymore, but hopefully he turns it around (i actually think Ujiri missed the boat and should have picked up Korver and cut Miles, that would have been a sneaky upgrade for this potential finals run).

Theres a local media guy here today trying to spin Lowry's espn interview in a negative way and trying to spin theres a riff between Kyle and Ujiri...wtf??? The media should be kissing the ground Lowry walks on as he is the heart and soul of this franchise...but i will say this...the same local media guy wants to spread a rumor that Durant would be the perfect fit for this team next year in order to resign Leonard, but only if they get rid of Kyle and commit to youth, speed and cherry picking seasoned vets who would like to chase rings with this team at the league minimum salary similarly to what West did in GS...im not a fan of Durant's overall attitude, but i also wasnt a fan of Leonards handling of last years drams either, yet here i am as Kawhi's #1 fanboy, so i surely could get behind Durant being a Raptor too...this team would be scary as fuk if this scenario played out like this...question is, will Durant want to play here? If he wants to go down as this generation's most winningest player, i would think he should seriously consider it, as it would be safe to say Toronto would be playing in June regularly for the next several years if KD came north.

Hey JB...i must be doing something right to have you post here ...thanks for following my Raps thread and welcome onboard 

Raps @ Nets

Lean:

Nets +2.5 1stQ

Nets +4.5 1stH

Nets +9

This game is a very tricky spot for Toronto for many different reasons...if you believe in lookaheads, trap games, letdown spots, home team dogs on Friday nights, the "due" factor, etc....a game like this can make your head spin when capping it...so my read here is purely a situational spot which superseed everything else....Toronto is sandwiched here by the Philly win, and their upcoming game vs Milwaukee...and have to go to New York and offer up a professional grind effort to get the win and get out...do i think Raps win? Yes, but not by a DD margin when the final whistle blows...why? I think the Nets have played alot better over their current losing streak...they have held leads for majority of games only to have them eff it up late in games where winning players step up and make plays, and losing players pull a Sanchez butt fumble...what always makes Brooklyn dangerous is they shoot alot of 3s...and at home they are more than capable of scoring in bunches...this game is heavily tilted towards Toronto based on h2h, but i just have a feeling the Raps will come out slow and sluggish, just like they did against Memphis, get down relatively big early on, maybe even by DD, and by halftime find another gear to eek their way back into the game in the 3rd Q, and then take over in the 4th when the Nets starters get tired...and the Raps pull away to win by 5-7...something like 117-111....all this talk i know... if the Raps win by 25+ leading wire to wire, this message will self destruct in 5 seconds after the clocks hit triple zero.

Thanks guys. 

Bucks @ Raps

Lean:

Raps -5 (and slight lean to the under 231.5)

This will have all the intensity of a playoff game...Bucks already won on their court, and this time Raps should hold serve on theirs...both teams coming off brutal offensive efforts in respective losses, although in my opinion Toronto played very "shenanigan-ish" vs Brooklyn, as if they were toying around with a pet cat...i suspected them play poorly, but to lose straight up is not acceptable in my opinion, and they should right the ship tonight infront an electric home crowd...something like 116-108 Raps in what should be a great game with Kahwi vs Giannis feature matchup

Raps @ Clippers

Lean:

Raps ML -160 and Over 221...given their masterful pointspread shenanigans late in games, i could easily see this game by a 2 or 3pt win by Toronto...in my opinion, this is a huge game for the Raps, perhaps the most important game of the season so far...first game of a tough western roadie, coming off of a 4 game stretch with only 1 win, tons of negative vibes being offered by Lowry which the local media is spinning for daytime radio fodder and drama, etc...its time for this team to put their big boy pants on, and prove to themselves they are better than how they have looked over this recent downward spiral...i look for Kawhi to have a huge game in front of friends and family in the building tonight, and i also fully expect Kyle to play his more traditional aggressive style of offense looking to drive to the basket and get to the line as often as possible to get back his scoring confidence...and im hoping he hits a few 3s early in this game too...situationally this is a very bad spot for LA...coming off an OT grind in Phx having to play b2b now against a rested and refocused hungry squad in Toronto....see a potential 126-123 type Raps win.

^^^^ wow the Clips really left all their jizz in Phoenix 

Raps @ Warriors

Lean:

Warriors -6, and i would also look at first half and first quarter once the lines come out...this is a really bad spot here for Toronto, b2b vs a rested home team whos finding their full groove back, Curry looks as good as ever, home cooking in the bay area seems to be back for the Warriors, and i just feel the Raps are going to get blitzed in the first 6 minutes of this game to a tune of something like 20-8, and never really get a chance to come back in the game...Durant seems to be able to score at will vs Toronto, and if the game gets out of reach by 15+ early in the 4th Q, i full expect coach Nurse to yank everyone off the floor and let his C team finish the game...this is the one ugly game Toronto may end up having with a 20+ loss, albeit really nothing changes here for their psyche, as it can always be spun as a "throwaway" game based on scheduling...throw in a revenge angle for the Warriors when they lost in OT vs Raps few weeks ago, and the recipe for a 128-112 type Warriors win is all ready and waiting

We shall see...i will have to take a powernap before tip off...these 10:40pm tip offs arent my style anymore

I have already locked in Warriors ML -280 as the first leg of an open parlay...i dont have the kahunas to take the spread just incase there are last minute shenanigans...these 2 teams have become the Picasso and Michaelangelo of back door artwork.

^^^ i like to find three individual games at this price range to yield a +175 odds ticket 

Books tempting Atlanta backers with a +9...i wouldnt bite...Mavs at home are rolling, plus Hawks recent win vs Nuggets should be their only win for a while...pass for me, but the line here is a double mind fuk...Mavs or nothing.

“The Raptors have been around for 2.5 decades. This will (and should) go down as one of their best regular season wins ever after the 1996 win over the 70 win Bulls.

Put an asterisk next to the Raptors' 1st win vs Golden State if you must (no Steph/Draymond), and I don't for the record, but they get full marks tonight. No Kawhi, JV injury, (almost) fully healthy Warriors, 2nd night of a b2b on the road. Best win of the season by a mile.”

This game makes me want, more then ever to bet:

Will the warriors win the title: NO +120

The @Raptors won at LAC last night by 24 and at GS tonight by 20.

This is only the 3rd time in NBA history an Eastern Time Zone team played a Pacific Time Zone team on the road on back-to-back days and won both by 20+ points.

Boston did so in Jan 1969 and Miami in Dec 2010.

Scal...i have so much to say about this game, these 2 teams, etc...but heres the summary free flow from the top of my head:

Raps are for real...no doubt about it...they should win the east...they definitely should win the division (last night was a beautiful double whammy for us holding Raps to win division tickets as the Sixers showed everyone how big of a fraud they are, and Boston still has a ton of internal personality issues)...only team legit who should challenge Toronto will be Milwaukee...but Raps are so deep defensively i truly believe they will be able to limit Giannis in a 7 game series with all their rotational defensive players.

Last night was also a key moment in the Leonard resigning discussion for Toronto...yes, the franchise chose to sit him out again despite Kawhi wanting very much to play...this has to say to Kahwi in a very direct way "we value you and your overall health, we dont want to take any risks, this is just one random regular season game, we need you come playoffs for a deep run to the title, please realize that our franchise is a great organization with first class staff and great young talent which is built for a multi year run at the finals...if we can beat the Warriors by 20 like this without you, just imagine how real our chances are to beat them in the finals with you!",,,etc. And if Leonard signs, holy cow, look for this team to cherry pick the best suited role and veterans to enhance this team in years to come...dare i even say Durant comes here next year "if" Raps win this year while they let Lowry go? That discussion is for another day.

Warriors...well, are they just being Silver's bittch this season and following the tin foil hatter theory where they have been "asked" to become a lesser version of themselves for the regular season, just to add more drama and mystery to a very stale western conference? Is this all a screenplay in order to aow Lebron to flirt with first or second place in the conference for sports talk radio narratives? I dont really know, but the Warriors are definitely playing the role of something this season, which makes the league look even more mickey mouse than usual when it comes to betting...i would stay clear of Warriors games for now as a bettor...they have become the CSKA Moscow of the NBA and could very well be in cahoots with pointspreads +/ a possession here or there...bottom line, for them to lose by 20 at home like they did is simply impossible to predict, and only goes to further solidify my stance regarding my lack of desire to cap games and bet them prematch...instead waiting to see game flow and placing an ingame wager is the best option given how the nba operates now.

Lets Go Raptors...this is the year...no Lebronto, unless somehow they meet in the finals, and then fuk me and all of the six