I like the Hornets here, currently getting 8.5 points on Toronto’s neutral home court. This is a revenge spot for Charlotte, who narrowly lost to this same Raptors side last time out.
They don’t have the usual disadvantages of a road game, with no additional travel, no fans in attendance, and a neutral home court for their opponent. They’re also likely to have Gordon Hayward back in action here, which makes them much more competitive.
Toronto just haven’t been as good this season and I think the travel situation has really started to take a toll. They aren’t as deep as they’ve been in recent years and they’ve struggled to blow teams out. Especially if Hayward is available, Charlotte should at least keep this close.
The vast majority of money is coming in on Portland here and I still think they’re a good bet -4 points. This is an awful scheduling situation for the Hawks, the 2nd night of a B2B after playing in Utah last night.
Atlanta also has a myriad of injuries here, with Gallinari, Bogdanovic, and Dunn all out and Rondo and Okongwu on minute restrictions. Portland’s loss of Nurkic is a bit of a blow, but Kanter and Giles are a serviceable backup duo.
Portland had an absolute shocker against Indiana last time out and I think they’ll come out with high energy as a result. With Atlanta coming in on a red-eye flight, I can see Portland getting out to an early lead that they don’t relinquish.