Brooklyn (26-45) at Toronto (23-48)
When: Monday, March 25th 2024
Where: Scotiabank Arena,
Toronto, Ontario
Time: 7:30 ET | TV: League Pass
Opening Odds: Brooklyn -6/221.5
The Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors are on the outside looking in as the NBA playoff picture starts to take shape. The two will meet Monday evening in Toronto with both looking to end losing streaks. The Nets are currently in 11th place, 5.5 games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the final play-in spot, while Toronto is three behind Brooklyn. The Raptors begin a four-game home stand, trying to snap a season-long 10-game losing streak after a 112-109 loss at Washington on Saturday.
The Nets have dropped six straight and are now 5-12 under interim head coach Kevin Ollie after Jacque Vaughn was fired last month. The Nets are nearing the end of a stretch in which they will play 10 road games and one home game from March 7-27. Brooklyn dropped to 10-25 away from home after Saturday’s 105-93 setback at the New York Knicks. The teams have split their two meetings this season with the home team winning and covering each. The most recent was a 121-93 Toronto win on Feb. 22.
BROOKLYN NETS
In Brooklyn’s loss on Saturday, the Nets outshot the Knicks, but attempted 21 less shots than New York. Cam Thomas had a team-high 19 points in the loss, while Mikal Bridges had 18 points. Thomas is averaging 24.9 points and 5.1 rebounds over his last eight games after returning from a six-game injury absence. Thomas has scored 1,202 points this year, already surpassing his total from his first two seasons combined (1,174 points). Guard Dennis Smith Jr. and forwards Cameron Johnson and Keita Bates-Diop have been ruled out for Monday. The Nets will next play at Washington on Wednesday.
TORONTO RAPTORS
Toronto came up just short at Washington on Saturday, as Bruce Brown missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer that would have forced overtime. The Raptors led by as many as 11 but clearly were worn down by the end with only eight healthy players available. Gary Trent Jr. led the Raptors with 31 points and made all 10 of his free throw attempts. Trent became only the fourth player in franchise history to score at least 30 points while going perfect from the free throw line with at least 10 attempts while not turning the ball over. Guard Kobi Simmons was signed to a 10-day contract on Sunday and could make his debut Monday.
Prediction:
Both of these teams are really struggling and the Nets have to be road-weary by now. I can not lay this many points with a struggling team on the road, so I’ll back the Raptors here. Toronto is 5-2 ATS when getting between 5-7 points, while the Nets are 1-4 ATS when favored by that much.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for today.
Pick: Raptors +6
