Wednesday night in the NBA I will have a free pick in the game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Toronto Raptors, which will take place at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. The game has a start time of 7:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN. Current Vegas betting odds have the Raptors listed as 10 point favorites, while the total is set at 195.5.
Analysis: The Charlotte Hornets will not be going to the playoffs as they come in with a 33-48 record overall, including a 14-26 mark on the road. The Hornets have had good success vs the Raptors of late, going 6-1 SU the last 7 games, including 2-1 this year. Charlotte has gone 10-2 ATS the last 12 meetings in Toronton, but just 1-5 ATS in their last 6 vs the Eastern Conference. The Hornets have been a very poor offensive team this year, ranking 28th in scoring (94.2 ppg), 29th in shooting, 30th in 3 point shooting and 20th in FT shooting. Defensively the Hornets have been solid, ranking 8th in points allowed (97.4 ppg), 8th in defensive FG% and 22nd in 3 point defense.
The Toronto raptors have long since wrapped up a playoff berth, but they played like they had something to play for last night in their 2 point last second loss to the Celtics. The Raptors are now 48-33 overall for the year, including 26-14 at home. Toronto has gone 2-6-1 ATS in their last 9 home games following a road trip of 7 or more days and just 7-20 ATS their last 27 games vs the Hornets.The Raptors have been a good offensive team this year, ranking 4th in scoring (104.3 ppg), 12th in shooting, 11th in 3 point shooting and 2nd in FT shooting. Defensively the Raptors have not been so great this year, ranking 21st in points allowed (101.2 ppg), 27th in defensive FG% and 15th in 3 point defense.
Pick: Tough games to call as their is nothing for either side to play for, so I will look to the Under here. Neither offense should go all out for points and Toronto plays good defense at home, allowing just 98.6 ppg here, while the Hornets have allowed just 98.2 ppg on the road. Charlotte has averaged just 83.4 ppg in their last 5 games and just 93.4 ppg on the road. Toronto has no reason to score here, while Charlotte can't scored. This one should stay in the 180s.
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