Dave Cokin
Bonus Play Sunday
833 ROCKETS @ 834 RAPTORS 6:35 PM
Take: 834 Toronto Raptors -7
On paper, this should be an okay Houston Rockets entry. Not great, but certainly good enough to make the playoffs. Houston might still make the post-season, as they’re currently sitting as the #8 seed in the Western Conference. But if you watch this team on even just a somewhat basis, it’s pretty clear that the intensity and focus one would hope to see from a playoff contender just isn’t there.
The Raptors are the flip side of that recording. Toronto still has a chance to claim the top seed in the Eastern Conference, as they’re certainly within hailing distance of the currently top seeded Cavaliers.
This is the second of back to back games away from home for Houston. They were defeated at Chicago on Saturday and now have to square off with a team that enjoyed Saturday off and has been dynamite at home all season. Check mark to Toronto on the scheduling dynamics front.
It’s not as though the Rockets can’t go north of the border and win this game. There’s no question in my mind this team has plenty of talent. And on the right day, they can be an impressive squad. But those days seems to be more the exception that the rule at this point. Houston has now lost ten of its last 15, and getting healthy at Toronto won’t be easy.
The Raptors continue to roll, which is something I was not sure they’d do when DeMarre Carroll went down with a knee injury. Fact is, however, this team has not missed a beat and they’re starting to count down the magic number en route to winning the Atlantic Division.
No bargain on the price, and there aren’t going to be any of those at this point with the Raptors. In fact, I’m probably paying a bit of a premium today, as one can probably make a decent case this line is a shade inflated. But I’ll take my chances that a not consistently hungry Rockets team is at less than its best with no rest, something I have little worry about on the Toronto side. I’ll lay it with the Raptors this time.
Bonus Play Sunday
833 ROCKETS @ 834 RAPTORS 6:35 PM
Take: 834 Toronto Raptors -7
On paper, this should be an okay Houston Rockets entry. Not great, but certainly good enough to make the playoffs. Houston might still make the post-season, as they’re currently sitting as the #8 seed in the Western Conference. But if you watch this team on even just a somewhat basis, it’s pretty clear that the intensity and focus one would hope to see from a playoff contender just isn’t there.
The Raptors are the flip side of that recording. Toronto still has a chance to claim the top seed in the Eastern Conference, as they’re certainly within hailing distance of the currently top seeded Cavaliers.
This is the second of back to back games away from home for Houston. They were defeated at Chicago on Saturday and now have to square off with a team that enjoyed Saturday off and has been dynamite at home all season. Check mark to Toronto on the scheduling dynamics front.
It’s not as though the Rockets can’t go north of the border and win this game. There’s no question in my mind this team has plenty of talent. And on the right day, they can be an impressive squad. But those days seems to be more the exception that the rule at this point. Houston has now lost ten of its last 15, and getting healthy at Toronto won’t be easy.
The Raptors continue to roll, which is something I was not sure they’d do when DeMarre Carroll went down with a knee injury. Fact is, however, this team has not missed a beat and they’re starting to count down the magic number en route to winning the Atlantic Division.
No bargain on the price, and there aren’t going to be any of those at this point with the Raptors. In fact, I’m probably paying a bit of a premium today, as one can probably make a decent case this line is a shade inflated. But I’ll take my chances that a not consistently hungry Rockets team is at less than its best with no rest, something I have little worry about on the Toronto side. I’ll lay it with the Raptors this time.
