The Golden State Warriors picked up a nice win on Friday night over the Boston Celtics. Here, they will look to follow that up with a win north of the border against the Toronto Raptors, but their roster will look vastly different than it did the night before. In our NBA picks for Saturday night, we look at Warriors vs Raptors and determine if the Warriors can overcome major changes to help bettors get paid.
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Warriors vs Raptors Betting Pick
This game will be played at ScotiaBank Centre at 7:30 PM ET on Saturday, December 18, 2021.
Why Bet The Raptors:
✅ After their win over the Celtics on Friday night, the Warriors have decided to rest Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green for this contest. While the Raptors could always come up short despite those absences, this is a spot where you fade the Warriors based on what they have told you about how seriously they are taking this game. If the Raptors don’t cover, so be it, but they are the best play here.
✅ Toronto, to their credit, have a positive point differential this season despite being under .500 for the year. When they win, they tend to win big enough to make up for the losses they have suffered on the scoreboard this season. And with Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet looking like the two best players on the court for this game, the Raptors are the right side.
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✅ This is one of the toughest back to backs in the NBA, as the Warriors have to go from Boston to Toronto overnight. That means going through customs and the other added rigors of international travel, which will mean less time for the remaining Warriors players to get the rest needed to play at the highest level of NBA competition.
Golden State Warriors
Golden State improved to 24-5 on the season with a win on Friday night over the Boston Celtics. In that game, the Warriors got off to a huge start offensively, torching the Celtics with their perimeter shooting in the first half and holding on late. But the Warriors have made it very clear that they are not taking their game against the Raptors as seriously as their game against the Celtics.
With Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins out, there will be questions about who is going to carry the scoring load for the Warriors. Jordan Poole is capable of heating up, for example, but he usually benefits from the attention paid to the other stars on the team. It will take some superb individual efforts to overcome the roster situation for Golden State going into this game.
Toronto Raptors
Toronto lost its last game in overtime on Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets, but come into this matchup against the Warriors with a significant rest advantage. Toronto’s last scheduled game against the Chicago Bulls was postponed due to Chicago’s massive amount of COVID absences, giving the Raptors three full rest days prior to this game. The question now is whether the Raptors can take advantage of their advantageous circumstances.
The Raptors will be the healthier team and the better team on paper coming into this contest. But those things don’t matter if a team can’t execute on the floor, and the Raptors’ offense will have to execute well to win and cover here, even against a severely shorthanded opponent.