Toronto’s DeRozan drawing major attention
It’s no shame to lose a tight one to a team of Cleveland’s ilk. One year removed from an Eastern Conference finals appearance, though, Toronto abhors any sort of setback.
This evening, Dwane Casey’s club hopes to wrap up a three-game home stretch in style. The Nuggets, fresh off their own excruciating defeat, visit Air Canada Centre at 7:30 p.m. ET. Handicappers at online sports book Bovada.lv like the Raptors as 7-point favorites. Denver, on the other hand, represents a +245 underdog.
Three nights ago, Toronto (1-1) dropped a 94-91 verdict to the defending champion Cavaliers. DeMar DeRozan, however, posted his second straight outing of at least 30 points. The Olympic gold medalist converted all eight of his free throws and added seven rebounds in 38 spectacular minutes.
He’ll probably need to provide a similar effort against Michael Malone’s squad, which actually stymied the Raptors last season. Behind strong work from Will Barton and Nikola Jokic, Denver (1-1) won both meetings in 2015-16. The Mile High City crew also fell just short of upsetting Portland over the weekend.
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DeRozan & Co. likely won’t be caught by surprise here. Even if forward Darrell Arthur and guard Gary Harris return from injury, there remains a significant talent gap between the two organizations. Bank on the hosts to surpass the 100-point mark with ease.
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