The Washington Wizards invade the Scotiabank Arena to do battle with the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.
The Washington Wizards will be looking to make a transition this season as they’ve moved on from Russell Westbrook with some new players and a different head coach. The departure of Westbrook leaves a massive hole in the lineup, but the Wizards’ management made up for that by adding Spencer Dinwiddie, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma which really adds depth to a team almost completely reliant on just two players last season. Bradley Beal looks to have more support this time around which should free up improving prospects in Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors will be so excited to be able to play their home games back at the Scotiabank Arena after having to set up in Tamba Bay last season due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Unfortunately, Kyle Lowry was shipped away to the Heat in the offseason, but there is plenty of excitement surrounding Scottie Barnes who they drafted with the fourth overall pick. Fred VanVleet should see all the minutes he wants along with OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam but there could be a bit of a question mark around Goran Dragic who will start at the point.
Looking at the betting trends, the Wizards are 12-4-1 ATS in their last 17 road games and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games as a road underdog. The Raptors are 0-4-1 ATS in their last five home games and 6-13 ATS in their last 19 games playing on three or more days rest.
Head to head, the over is 8-1 in the last nine meetings overall and the Wizards are 3-1-1 ATS in the last five meetings in Toronto.
The Raptors will be so excited to be back at the Scotiabank Arena surrounded by their fans, instead of being relocated to Tampa Bay, but they’re going to miss the play of Kyle Lowry who has been so consistent for them over the years. The Wizards look like a completely new team with Westbrook now out of the lineup and it’ll be interesting to see how Dinwiddie and Kuzma look with their new teams. There is plenty to like about this new-look Wizards team, especially compared to last season, but in terms of picking this game, I think the Raptors will be good enough to get the narrow win at home.