Toronto Raptors -4 (-108)
The Miami Heat have been a different team with Jimmy Butler off the court. He’s the leader of this team, and his loss has been showing on the underlying metrics. Miami’s Efficiency Differential is +5.8 with Butler on the court, according to Cleaning The Glass. Not only are they missing Butler, but also Avery Bradley and Meyers Leonard. Tyler Herro is also listed as a game-time decision. It's safe to say the Heat are a little banged up right now and are not playing to their full potential because of it. The biggest issue for this Heat team is defending the perimeter. Miami is allowing teams to attempt 40.8 three-pointers per game, which is 29th in the NBA. Teams are making those three-pointers at a 37.6% rate, which is 19th in the NBA, according to Team Rankings. Miami’s bad perimeter defense will need to step up against the Raptors, who game plan around the three-ball and attempt the most in the league at 43.1 per game. The Raptors are making their threes at 37.3%, which is 9th in the NBA, according to Team Rankings. Overall, the Raptors haven’t been a good team either. They started the season terribly, winning only one of their first seven games. They’re starting to turn it around now, as they are on a three-game winning streak and don’t have anyone notable on the injury report. This is a great matchup for the Raptors. They’re well-rested and should have their way with the three-ball on offense. On defense, they should contain Bam Adebayo, as they rank 3rd in the NBA in points in the paint per game allowed. Back the well-rested team on a winning streak.
