Portland Trail Blazers at Toronto Raptors 3/1/19: Starting Lineups, Matchup Preview, Betting Odds
Portland Trail Blazers at Toronto Raptors Preview
The red-hot Portland Trail Blazers will put their winning streak to the test when they head north of the border for an interconference matchup with the Toronto Raptors tonight on ESPN.
With Oklahoma City’s recent skid, the Trail Blazers are currently tied for third in the Western Conference with a 38-23 record. They have won their last five and are 7-3 in their last 10 games. Toronto won their most recent game, but have not been able to move up from their spot as the number two team in the Eastern Conference. They are currently 2.5 games behind the Milwaukee Bucks and have a record of 45-17 and are 8-2 in their last 10.
In their last matchup, Portland took the 128-122 win on December 14 behind a 24 point night from point guard Damian Lillard. Kawhi Leonard led the Raptors in the loss with 28 points.
TV Schedule
Date: 03/01/19
Time: 8:00pm ET
Arena: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON
Channel: ESPN
Portland Trail Blazers Starting Lineup
| Position | Starter |
|---|---|
| PG | Damian Lillard |
| SG | CJ McCollum |
| SF | Maurice Harkless |
| PF | Al-Farouq Aminu |
| C | Jusuf Nurkic |
Blazers Analysis
The Portland Trail Blazers are in the middle of a seven-game Eastern Conference road trip, and so far, they are 4-0. On Wednesday night, they picked up their fifth straight win in a 99-92 win over the Boston Celtics.
They’ll face a slightly stiffer test against the Raptors on the road tonight, but the Blazers have been dominant in their games against Eastern Conference foes this season.
The game between the Blazers and Celtics was very close early on, with Portland taking a one-point lead into halftime, but a 31-point third quarter put them ahead and allowed them to weather a fourth-quarter storm from Boston.
While it was C.J. McCollum who provided a majority of the offense in their prior win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lillard took over the scoring load against Boston, finishing with 33 points and seven rebounds.McCollum added 14, and Maurice Harkless had a standout game with 17 points and 10 rebounds, both season highs for the forward who finally seems to be rounding into form after recovering from an injury.
“It’s been a battle. It’s been up-and-down. It’s been frustrating at times,” Harless said. “But I just stuck with it, I’m continuing to stick with it, and it just feels good to be playing and playing well.”
Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic’s numbers have been down lately. He had 16 points and six rebounds against the Celtics.
Blazers Quick Links: Blazers Starting Lineup, Blazers Roster, Blazers Depth Chart, Blazers Injuries, Blazers News, Blazers Schedule
Toronto Raptors Preview Starting Lineup
| Position | Starter |
|---|---|
| PG | Kyle Lowry |
| SG | Danny Green |
| SF | Kawhi Leonard |
| PF | Pascal Siakam |
| C | Serge Ibaka |
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Raptors Analysis
The Raptors haven’t exactly been the picture of consistency lately. In the last three games, they needed a late steal and score in the final seconds to get a win against the San Antonio Spurs, then lost to the Orlando Magic 98-113 on Sunday before looking dominant in a 118-95 win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night.
While the Raptors only had four players score in double figures, they went 13 deep into their rotation and got contributions from several players. Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 25 points and eight rebounds, Kawhi Leonard had 21 and Serge Ibaka, back in the starting lineup, had 14 points.
“It’s always great to come in and bounce back and get a win,” Leonard said. “It’s just about us and what we need to do to get better as a team.”
The Raptors defense has always been their calling card, and they dominated on defense against the Celtics, especially in a second-quarter 18-0 run that limited the Celtics to just 13 points in the quarter as the Raptors scored 36.
Raptors Quick Links: Raptors Starting Lineup, Raptors Roster, Raptors Depth Chart, Raptors Injuries, Raptors News, Raptors Schedule
Portland Trail Blazers at Toronto Raptors Betting Odds
The Toronto Raptors are five-point favorites to win tonight’s game at home. The over/under is 226.5 points and the Raptors are -200 on the moneyline.
Odds & Line Movement Links: Portland Trail Blazers at Toronto Raptors, Vegas Odds (All NBA Games Today)
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