Game Time: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 

Venue:   Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Canada

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: NL

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread: NL

WynnBet: Spread:  NL

Heat: 32-18, 1st place Eastern Conference

Raptors: 24-23, 8th place Eastern Conference

An Eastern Conference battle between the current best and the current middle.  The Heat may be a bit inflated in the standings based on injuries on the rosters of the Chicago Bulls and the Brooklyn Nets.  The Raptors may be a bit deflated in the standings based on the great season being had by the suddenly good Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Charlotte Hornets.  Things seem to be picking up in Toronto as they have risen from 10th to eighth.  Either way both these rosters are full of players with deep playoff and Championship experience.  In fact the Heat starting point guard (Kyle Lowry) won his NBA championship as the Raptors starting point guard in 2019.  It should be a battle.  It could cause ripples throughout the standings for either the #2 Chicago Bulls or the #9 Washington Wizards depending on whether the Raptors win or lose.   Let’s watch a good game, let’s make that $$$.

The Miami Heat are in first place in the Eastern Conference.  They still have most of the key players that lost the NBA Championship in the NBA Bubble of 2020-21.  They are experienced and motivated to get there and finally get it done. The pitfall is that Miami should be exhausted going into this game.  The Heat lost to the Raptors Saturday night!...in Miami 124-120.  Then they got on a plane to fly to Boston to play Boston Monday Night… then they will get on a plane to fly to Canada… stand in line at Customs… to play Toronto AGAIN Tuesday night.  That is a lot of travel in 48 hours to face a team that just beat you 2000 miles and two days back. Not to mention that PF PJ Tucker banged up his knee in the last game and may miss Tues… also their star SF Jimmy Butler is dealing with right big toe irritation and may miss the second game … also Kyle Lowry is out of the lineup with a personal issue and may not even make the trip…. That leaves the Miami Heat exhausted, coming off a second loss potentially (the Celtics) and playing the team that just beat them with a thin roster.  Everything I just said is a formula for studying the spread closely.  Miami has won 7 of their last ten games to help them get the #1 spot in the East and hang on to it for almost two weeks now. They are 6-4 ATS in those ten games.

The Toronto Raptors started this season slow.  The Canada Covid protocols are no joke and the Raptors have struggled a bit with the extra time it adds to travel and testing and contact tracing… besides Canada is cold.  The Raptors have picked things up a bit, but are struggling through yet another cold spot at the moment.  They have only won 4 of their last 10 games.  They have a quickie against the Atlanta hawks Monday night.  I predicted the Hawks will win that game as Toronto’s struggles seem to be because they have no true big man Center anywhere on the roster… in the 24 hours since that article they simply have not picked one up.  The trade deadline is close… the Raptors should get to serious work on that (sources say they are trying).  They can’t expect different results if they keep playing the same power forward rotation at the Center spot… not only do they lose a lot of post matchups… they end up tying up Pascal Siakam out of position for most of the game… or PF OG Anunoby… or PF Precious Achiuwa… or PF Chris Boucher.  One if not two of those guys are absolutely too redundant to stay on the roster.

Today, Big Al looks for a great day, and is back on the NBA hardwood with this NBA High Roller Winner out of a 57-34 ATS angle. Don't miss out on the roundball $$$$. Get on board right now! Go get it! Get Big Al’s picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Miami is 32-18 on the season, but 29-21 ATS. They have logged 31 Overs and 19 Unders.  They are 14-12 in road games (with a road game vs Boston still to play)

Toronto is 

Miami is 14th in scoring with 109.1 ppg, 14th in rebounds with 44.8 per game, and 13th in AST/To ratio with 1.7.  They are shooting 14th in FG%, 1st in 3PT%, and 3rd in FT%.  They excel on defense where they rank 4th while only allowing 104.5 ppg from opponents.  That defense really suffers when SF Jimmy Butler doesn’t make it to the floor.  His status for the game is super important to the Heat’s chances of success.

The Raptors are 

Our prediction for Tuesday, February 1st is….  Raptors 118 -  Heat 104

The Raptors are comfortably at home… while the Heat have begun falling apart because of that cursed injury list.  The Raptors will take advantage of the temporary weakness to get yet another win off the Heat.  

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Miami is 5-3 ATS versus Toronto over the last 3 seasons.

Miami is 2-1 ATS versus Toronto at Toronto the last 3 seasons.

2 of 3 games have gone Under in this matchup.

Heat: PF PJ Tucker (knee) Out ** SF Jimmy Butler (toe) QUEST ** PG Kyle Lowry (personal) Out ** C Omer Yurtseven (illness) Quest

Raptors: C Khem Birch (nose) Out ** SG Derrick Johnson (ill) Out

Heat: PF Dwayne Dedmon, SF Caleb Martin, C Bam Adebayo, PG Gabe Vincent, SG Duncan Robinson

Raptors: PF OG Anunoby, SF Scottie Barnes, C Pascal Siakam, PG Fred VanVleet, SG Gary Trent Jr 

Heat

Points: Jimmy Butler 22

Assists: Kyle Lowry 8.3

Rebounds: Bam Adebayo 10.1

Steals: Jimmy Butler 1.9

Blocks: Bam Adebayo 0.6

Raptors

Points: Fred VanVleet 21.7

Assists: Fred VanVleet 7.0

Rebounds: Pascal Siakam 8.4

Steals: Gary Trent Jr 1.9

Blocks: Chris Boucher 1.1

Heat: Erik Spoelstra.  Multiple time NBA Championship coach.

Raptors: Nick Nurse.  One time NBA Championship coach,.