Toronto Raptors VERY underrated...

Tonight's pick is a tough one, mainly bc Toronto's away record isn't even CLOSE to their home record and they are playing 2nd game of a back-to-back both in away cities. ROUGH! Because of this, and the Sixers often volatility of play, we're keeping bet size small-- just 0.5% of AUM.

Here's why we're still going with Toronto:
#1 Their team really is so much better than the 76ers, and is clicking-together / firing-on-all-cylinders.
#2 DeRozan has really upped his game vs previous years, the coaching staff and maybe Lowry have finally convinced him that Finals appearances require great offensive players to play defense. Another thing we LOVE about DeRozan is his offensive game is mid-range, in a league over-indulgent in pick-n-rolls 3s and layups. The uncontested 2, for a guy as good at them as DeRozan, is a fantastic weapon to have in today's NBA where the 3 pt line is guarded out to half court these days.
#3 Toront's got a DEEP DEEP bench. So does Philly, but we think Toronto's bench has been honed into a unit moreso over the season. A small hit will be taken for CJ Miles being out of the 2nd unit lineup, but this will be made up for in the optionality of the following...
#4 EMBIID MIGHT NOT PLAY. The line is 2 points, if Embiid isn't playing, it should be 50 points! As much as we HATE betting against a healthy TJ McConnell, Embiid is practically an emotional leader.
That said, the Sixers are VERY deep at the 5 and 4, with Amir Johnson and Trevor Booker having PLENTY of what Embiid don't got-- EXPERIENCE.
#5 We think Philly get too much hype, they are still young and prone to mistakes. There's variability to this theme, but if they are "off" they can really lose this game quite easily despite Toronto's jet lag.
#6 J.J. Redick is out. While we sometimes suppose this might actually be GOOD for the Sixers due to his chicken-arm defense (nothing against JJ, he plays hard, but God gave him short arms!), and this is why it's listed so last, as Timothe LuWawu and/or Bayless can be on fire from 3 pt land on any given night, thus making Sixers offense quite volatile night-to-night.

If we get it wrong, here's why...
#1 Toronto will be tired
#2 Toronto's weaker on the road, while Sixers don't seem to care much this year
#3 Toronto may not care much about this game, as they can redeem themselves on Saturday when the two face off again
#4 Toronto coaches might just be looking to rest players in a back to back, they are sneaky that way and that can REALLY screw up natural calls.

All that fear said, Toronto should win this one by 30 points, and the vyg is -135. That's just too juicy to skip, but since the stars aren't aligned and Sixers so volatile night to night we're keeping it VERY small.

Good Luck tonite!