Toronto hosts Miami in a huge late season matchup in the NBA on Thursday night. The Raptors sit as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference heading into Wednesday night -- a loss by Washington would leave them tied for third. The Heat are alone as the eighth seed, but they could be tied for seventh if the Bucks lose late on Wednesday night. Toronto has won five of their last eight meetings with Miami, but The Heat won the last matchup 104-89. This game tips off at 7:30 PM Eastern time and can be seen on NBATV, Sportsnet One, and FSN Sun.
Raptors (42-29, 2nd Atlantic, 38-32-1 ATS)
Toronto has been on a scoring tear as of late with 238 total points in their last two games at home. They blew out Indiana by 25 points and followed that up with a close victory over Chicago in overtime. They've now won four of their last five games and it looks like they've nearly solidified their position to have home court in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Serge Ibaka (15 ppg, 6.8 rpg) will be suspended for the game after fighting with the Chicago Bulls' Robin Lopez in their previous game. It's a significant loss because Ibaka has been rolling with 16 or more points in the last three games.
Heat (35-36, 3rd Southeast, 43-27-1 ATS)
Miami continues to roll into the playoffs by catching fire late.
They've now won seven of their last nine games and could shockingly get back to .500 with a victory on Thursday night. More importantly, they've reached the fringe of the playoffs as teams near the single digits of remaining games.
Hassan Whiteside (16.8 ppg, 14.2 rpg) will likely be available for the game. He had to leave their recent game against Phoenix early after injuring his right hand, but it looks like he won't be missing any time for it.
Whiteside recorded 23 points and 14 boards in the 112-97 victory. However, there could be a bigger issue with Dion Waiters (15.8 ppg). He suffered an ankle injury last Friday and could be out for the remainder of the season.
Toronto is a 4.5-point favorite in this contest with the total O/U set at 204 points. Miami is 5-0 ATS in their last five home games against teams with a winning home record.
