Game Time: 7:30 PM ET, Monday, February 28th, 2022 

Venue:  Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Raptors -2; O/U 225.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  

ESPN:  Spread: Raptors -2; O/U 225.5

Opening LINES: Spread:  Raptors -2

Raptors: 32-27, 7th place Eastern Conference

Nets: 32-29, 8th place Eastern Conference

An Eastern Conference matchup with real consequences in the standings.. These two teams are on completely different tracks.  The Toronto Raptors are re3cent NBA Championship winners.  2019 was a big year for Toronto.  They won a chip, hung a banner… and all they had to do to get it was trade SF DeMar DeRozan to San Antonio for SG/SF Kawhi Leonard.  It worked… they won!  Then Kawhi walked away from them as if they were the girl from Galveston they met on Spring Break while using a fake name.  Toronto was without both DeMar and Kawhi and they quickly fell out of serious contention.  They are still good though.  In between times Toronto also drafted and traded well.  With GM Masai Ujiri (who DeMar DeRozan is starting to make look like a blindfolded dart thrower) the Raptors always make moves.  The two biggest recently were trading Kyle Lowry to Miami for pieces and picks and elevating Fred VanVleet to starting point guard (Nick Nurse helped)… and drafting SF/SG/PF/PG Scottie Barnes.  Scottie is the real deal future star.  He may lose the ROY to Evan Mobley… but both will be equally good for their franchises.  The Brooklyn Nets are an empty hope chest.  At one time the Nets were filled with big ideas about building a superteam that had no equal in NBA history.  The best scorer,  a nutcase who can play point guard and then the other best scorer.  All it cost them was their soul.  At the moment SF Kevin Durant can not play because of injury… PG Kyrie Irving can not play because of the earth being flat… and Kyrie could never play the Raptors anyway because he is not allowed to play in home games for the Nets or road games in Toronto.  The third star PG/SG Jame Harden became a part of this whole mess and quietly asked out…. Then sent signals he wanted out… then demanded under no circumstances that he was leaving whether it was to the team he wanted to go to or he simply would never give Brooklyn another shred of effort.  The Result is James Harden is gone and in his place is Ben Simmons and a couple role players from the Philadelphia 76ers.  An interesting note about the Ben Simmons trade is that Ben has played as many minutes for the Nets as he did for the 76ers… which is ZERO.  The result is the Raptors are by far the better team at this moment… but Brookly is just 3 guys rejoining them away from being potentially the best team in the league… What will happen?.... I mean what will happen AFTER we find a way to bet on Toronto?

The Toronto Raptors have won 6 of their last ten games… but in the last 5 games they are only 1-4.  Over the last 10 games they have gone 6-4 ATS.  They logged 5 Overs and 5 Unders.  Leading scorer Pascal Siakam and floor general and leading assist man Fred VanVleet run the team.  On his way is the future of the team… rookie Scottie Barnes.  Scottie is a positionless Swiss Army Knife that can run the point or bang under the boards.  At 14.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 3.2 apg Scottie is fast ascending.  This year will be the ultimate signpost for Masai Ujiri… if the team can advance in the postseason as constructed, that is one thing… but if it can’t?... If it can’t?.  There are a whole lot of trade pieces to completely build this team around Scottie.  

The Brooklyn Nets have won just 3 of their last ten games.  Going 4-5-1 ATS during that stretch.  The last game was a surprise though.  They beat the Milwaukee Bucks 126-123.  It was a win ATS and a very strong Over.  It also serves to drive home the point that no NBA roster is ever so stacked that another NBA roster can not catch them napping and give them an “L”.  Without Ben Simmons, without Kevin Durant, and without Joe Harris… The Nets were able to come together behind the play of PG Goran Dragic (a Toronto Raptor until two weeks ago) and SG Seth Curry.  The problem with the Nets all season looming is they had no role players to take over for the missing Kyrie Irving because of tantrums… and at times Kevin Durant and James Harden to injury.  Just recently thanks to the Ben Simmons trade and the buyout market the Nets reloaded the pantry with role players.  The Eastern Conference will have to take a long look into the mirror and ask themselves WHY?... WHY do they continually bail out these down and out teams?  You don’t let Goran Dragic walk if a DIRECT COMPETITOR needs that guy specifically?!!  You don’t add Seth Curry to a trade if your DIRECT COMPETITOR needs a shooter?!!  You don’t add C  Andre Drummond to the trade if your DIRECT COMPETITOR spent several weeks with Blake Griffin at Center?!!  Has anyone in the NBA EVER played poker?

Al McMordie CASHED Saturday, including a BLOWOUT NBA Game of the Week Winner on the Atlanta Hawks over Toronto - one of Big Al's STRONGEST plays of the entire year. If you enjoyed that 27-point wipeout, then don't miss Big Al's NBA Roadkill play today, as it's out of a sensational 44-20 ATS angle. Go get it!... Don’t miss out! Get Big Al’s picks!   You can discover the best  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!

Toronto is 32-27 on the season, but 34-25 ATS.  They have logged 32 Overs and 27 Unders.  They are 16-14 in road games.

The Brooklyn Nets are 32-29 on the season, but 24-25-2 ATS.  They have notched 31 Overs, 29 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 13-16 in home games

The Raptors are 19th in scoring with 108.3 ppg, 15th in rebounds with 44.6 per game, and 18th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7. On defense they rank 10th while allowing 107.5 ppg from opponents.

The Nets are 11th in scoring with 111.0 ppg, 17th in rebounds with 44.6 per game, and 10th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8.  On defense they rank 19th while allowing 111.3 from opponents.

Our prediction for Monday, February 28th is….   Raptors 118 - Nets 100

The Raptors will take this game with relative ease.  Yes, the Nets are playing better with their new role players, but the word is out after the Bucks win that no one should take that lightly.  The Raptors will be better and deeper during this match-up and they will not take it as lightly as the Bucks did.  Bet on the Raptors to win and cover.  

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Toronto is 20-10 ATS when playing a team with a winning record this season.

Toronto is 348-286 ATS after scoring 100 points or less in 2 consecutive losses since 1996.

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

Raptors:  PG Fred VanVleet Quest ** SF OG Anunoby (finger) Quest

Nets:  SF Kevin Durant (knee) Out ** SG Joe Harris Out ** SG Ben Simmons (odd to list him as a shooting guard?... He literally can not shoot.  He is not a shooting guard… you play this guy at PG or PF… or you just give up entirely)  Out

Raptors:  SF Scottie Barnes, PF Pascal Siakam, C Khem Birch, PG Fred Van Vleet, SG Gary Trent Jr

Nets: SF Bruce Bowen, PF James Johnson, C Andre Drummond, PG Kyrie Irving, SG Seth Curry

Raptors

Points: Pascal Siakam 21.4

Assists: Fred Van Vleet 6.9

Rebounds: Pascal Siakam 8.6

Steals: Gary Trent Jr 1.8 

Blocks: Chris Boucher 1.0

Nets

Points: Kevin Durant 29.3

Assists: James Harden 10.2

Rebounds: Andre Drummond 11

Steals: Andre Drummond 1.4

Blocks: Nic Claxton 1.1 

Raptors: Nick Nurse

Nets: Steve Nash