Cleveland Cavaliers vs Toronto Raptors Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/23/2026

Game Time: 8:00 pm ET, Thursday, April 23, 2026

Venue:  Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON

Where to Watch:  Prime Video

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Cavaliers -3.5, Raptors +3.5; Over/Under:  219.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Cavaliers -3.5, Raptors +3.5; Over/Under:  219.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Cavaliers -3.5, Raptors +3.5; Over/Under:  219.5 points

Cleveland Cavaliers:  52-30 (2nd place, Central Division)

Toronto Raptors:  46-36 (3rd place, Atlantic Division)

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Cleveland Cavaliers:  8-2 last 10

Toronto Raptors:  4-6 last 10

The Cavaliers are entering the playoffs with a 52-30 record overall this season and they were 25-16 in their road games where they will be in this game. They are entering this game on a 3 game winning streak with wins coming against the Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors twice in a row. Donovan Mitchell led the team in points in that game with 30 while James Harden was next on the team with 28 points. Donovan Mitchell led the team in assists in that game with 5 while Evan Mobley led the team in rebounds with 8. They were 53% from the field, 32.5% from 3-point range, and 63.6% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 119.5 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 115.4 PPG against them. The Cavaliers have an ATS record of 35-49 this season and their O/U record is 41-43.

The Raptors are entering the playoffs with a 46-36 record overall this season and they were 24-17 in their home games where they will be in this game. They are entering this game on a 2 game losing streak with losses coming against the Cleveland Cavaliers twice in a row. Scottie Barnes led the team in points in that game with 26 while RJ Barrett was next on the team with 22 points. Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett each led the team in assists in that game with 5 while Sandro Mamukelashvili led the team in rebounds with 10. They were 50.6% from the field, 26.9% from 3-point range, and 82.4% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 114.6 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 111.8 PPG against them. The Raptors have an ATS record of 42-42 this season and their O/U record is 33-51.

The current betting odds have the Cavaliers listed as a 3.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Cavaliers have looked good in their games this season with their 52-30 record overall which had them in the top half of the East. They have been a good road team too with their 25-16 road record this year. Meanwhile, the Raptors have looked good in their games this season with their 46-36 record overall which had them in the top half of the East. They have looked good on their home court with their 24-17 home record this season. This is game 3 of a 7-game series between the 4 seeded Raptors and the 5 seeded Cavaliers in the East for the 1st round of the NBA playoffs. The Cavaliers are entering this game with a 2-0 series lead after winning game 2 by a score of 115-105. The Cavaliers have been rolling over the back half of the season and they have all of the momentum on their side here. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games with 3 wins in a row now and they have all of the momentum in this series with a 2-0 lead. They took care of business at home, but both of those games were blow outs by double digits and the Raptors were never really in either of those games late. The Raptors haven't looked that great lately either, going 4-6 in their last 10 games, and they have had a lot of trouble against elite teams in the NBA this season. The Raptors are the kind of team that has been beating up on bad teams all year, but they haven't really been able to compete with the better teams, losing a lot of their games to teams higher in the standings by double digits. They haven't looked that much better in their home games either while the Cavaliers have been a strong road team all year. The Raptors had success against the Cavaliers early in the season, but this is a completely different team they are running into now and they don't have the horses to compete in this series as they were never really a team that was going to go far in the playoffs this year. The best way to place a bet here is on the Cavaliers to cover the spread in this game. 

Cavaliers Raptors Prediction:  Our NBA Pick for Thursday, April 23, 2026 (8:00 pm ET start time) is Cavaliers 124 Raptors 117.

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Cleveland Cavaliers: 16-24 ATS in road games. 25-41 ATS as a favorite. 3-7 ATS after playing 3 consecutive home games. 24-18 UNDER after playing a home game.

Toronto Raptors: 13-6 ATS against Central division opponents. 7-4 ATS at home off a road loss. 9-4 1H ATS after 2 or more consecutive losses. 14-7 UNDER when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 60% to 70%).

Cleveland Cavaliers:  T. Bryant (C) Day To Day - Calf.

Toronto Raptors:  I. Quickley (PG) Day To Day - Hamstring. 

“They threw the kitchen sink at us, gave us a lot of different looks and (we) kept our poise. Donovan and James closed it for us, but I thought our defense kind of forced them to go small. This is what the playoffs are about. They came at us hard and we responded.” - Kenny Atkinson after his team’s win against the Raptors in the 2nd game of this series on Monday. 

“The only time the game got away was when we made a lot of turnovers. We played super hard, we adjusted to how the game was going, and did certain things that helped us.” - Scottie Barnes after their loss against the Cavaliers in game 2 of this series on Monday. 

PG James Harden

SG Donovan Mitchell

SF Dean Wade

PF Evan Mobley

C Jarrett Allen

PG Jamal Shead

SG Brandon Ingram

SF RJ Barrett

PF Scottie Barnes

C Jakob Poeltl

PPG: Donovan Mitchell (27.9)

APG: James Harden (7.7)

Reb/G: Evan Mobley (9)

PPG: Brandon Ingram (21.5)

APG: Immanuel Quickley (5.9)

Reb/G: Scottie Barnes (7.5)

Coaches:

Cleveland Cavaliers: Kenny Atkinson (2nd season)

Toronto Raptors: Darko Rajakovic (3rd season)