Sportsbooks Flip on Undermanned Raptors With Celtics Favoured by 8

The shorthanded Toronto Raptors are heavy underdogs as they venture up to TD Garden to take on the Boston Celtics on Thursday night

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

It was just 24 hours ago that Vegas sportsbooks were all over the Toronto Raptors against the Detroit Pistons. Even without Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, head coach Nick Nurse, and almost their entire coaching staff, Vegas liked Toronto's chances enough to make them -7.5 point favourites on Wednesday night.

Boy, they were wrong.

The Raptors got walloped 129-105.

Now the sportsbooks have adjusted making the Raptors +8, sometimes even +8.5 point underdogs for Thursday night's game against the Boston Celtics in TD Garden, according to Covers.

The Raptors are 0-2 this season against the Celtics, having lost 126-114 on January 4 in a game they were favoured to win by six points and 120-106 on February 11 in a game they were two-point underdogs in. Thursday night's game is just a confluence of unfortunate events for Toronto who will once again be short five players and playing on the second night of a back-to-back having arrived in Boston just after 2 a.m. Thursday morning.

The Celtics, conversely, are coming off three straight home victories and have been awaiting the Raptors since Tuesday when they knocked off the Los Angeles Clippers 117-112.

A loss on Thursday could drop Toronto out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference and into the play-in tournament heading into the All-Star Break. A win, however unlikely, could bump Toronto all the way up to fourth in the conference. 

The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. ET on TSN and TSN 1050.

Further Reading

The Raptors have entered uncharted waters with serious COVID-19 concerns

OG Anunoby is evolving into an even better 3-and-D player

What we know about Toronto's COVID-19 issues