An early glimpse of my NBA Playoff analysis...
Brooklyn Nets (44-38 SU, 41-40 ATS, -129 AFP) at Toronto Raptors (48-34 SU, 46-34 ATS, +165 AFP) (-2)
12:30 ET ESPN
Toronto (-2)
Brooklyn micro tanked (thanks for coining a new word ESPN) this week (with losses to the Knicks and Cleveland) in their effort to avoid facing Chicago in round 1. And why not! This is a playoff experienced group of Nets, who will be facing a Toronto team that was just 34-48 last season. As is true with so many things in life, be careful what you wish for. Under 1st year HC Kidd, Brooklyn was underachieving at 10-21 SU the end of December. It took a meeting of the minds for the Nets to pull it together to make the playoffs. Since the inception of 2014, Brooklyn is 34-17 SU, 31-21 ATS. But, that stretch pales in comparison to the late season surge of this Toronto team. Prior to the trade of non-defender, Rudy Gay, Toronto was 7-13 SU. Like clockwork, the departure of Gay added chemistry to an offense led by Lowry and DeRozan. The Raptors finished on a season-ending surge of 41-21 SU, 39-23 ATS. These two split the season series at 2-2, with each winning once on their home court. Though each team lost their season finale, the Raptors have been the more resilient team, standing 22-10 ATS following a defeat. The Brooklyn team has more playoff experience, but the Raptors are the hotter team down the stretch. They laid 7 and 8 points to Brooklyn in the regular season on this court. At the current line, it looks like a bargain. Note that Toronto covered by a net 165 points this year, while Brooklyn failed to the number by a net of 129 points. Looks like perception/reality to me!