While the race for the play-ins in the Eastern Conference seems all but decided, the race within those positions is heating up. The Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls are separated by just 1 game for the 8th, 9th and 10th positions. Ahead of them are the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets, who are 3 games clear. However, with both losing their most recent games, the Raptors could further close that gap with a home win over the Heat tonight.
Take a look at my Heat vs Raptors same game parlay below. And do not forget to check out the rest of our NBA picks too.
Pascal Siakam has been in great form for the Raptors. Over the last 6 games he has been able to record 25 or more points in 4 occasions. With Bam Adebayo likely to be tasked with dealing with the size of Jakob Poeltl, the Raptors star is likely to be left going up against Kevin Love. The Heat forward has by far the worst defensive rating of the Heat starters and will have issues staying in from of Siakam off the bounce. The 34-year old is now fairly slow footed and does not have the length to affect Siakams mid-range jump shots. Siakam managed 23 points in each of the 2 games he played against the Heat in October. Against a more favourable matchup, he should be able to manage at least 1 field goal more.
With Gary Trent Jr. being unavailable in recent games, Fred VanVleet has taken on the more of the perimeter shooting burden. He has been incredibly consistent too. Over the last 10 games he has knocked down at least 3 triples in 9 contests. I expect him to go at least 1 better tonight. Over that same stretch of games, the Heat are 27th in the NBA in both opponent 3-pointers made and opponent 3-point percentage. They should be the perfect opponent for the Raptors guard to have a great shooting night against. The hosts are well positioned to exploit Love on the floor which is bound to make the Heat defence collapse into the paint. That should create clean looks for the Raptors sharpshooter.