NBA Best Bet of the Day: Defenses show up in Toronto Raptors vs. Boston Celtics

We’re going to hear the two most exciting words in sports Tuesday:  Game 7. The slate features a losers-leave-the-bubble matchup with Utah Jazz playing the Denver Nuggets and Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals series between the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors.

BetMGM Sportsbook has NBA odds and NBA props for all bubble games so we’re bringing you the best bet for every day of the NBA playoffs.

Celtics-Raptors Under 218.5 (-110) 

Boston pounced on Toronto early in Game 1 — outscoring them 39-23 in the 1st quarter — thanks to 6-8 3-point shooting and getting to the foul line 11 times.

But that’s a rare occurrence from the Celtics as they were 21st in the NBA in first-quarter scoring. Also, Toronto holds opponents to the 5th-lowest first-quarter scoring output in the NBA. 

Expect to see a stronger defensive performance from the Raptors in Game 2 in all because the situation calls for it. Nick Nurse was recently named Coach of the Year and that’s in part due to his reputation as a defensive strategist. The Raptors hold their opponents to the lowest 3-point % in the NBA and are the second-most defensively efficient team.

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They would be best served to lean on their defense tenacity since they want to get in a shootout against Jayson Tatum and the rest of the Celtics. Marcus Smart and Brad Wanamaker combined to go 7-13 from 3-point land and we should expect that to regress a little in Game 2.

Don’t sleep on the Celtics defense either. Boston has the 4th-most efficient defense, their opponents shoot the 2nd-lowest % of 3’s and 4th-lowest effective field goal %.

Also, we have a couple of trends backing our Under play:

• The Under has cashed in three straight Celtics-Raptors games.
• Boston has a 1-6 Over/Under record in their last seven overall games.
• Boston has a 7-15 O/U record when they are the underdog.

If the Raptors are going to get back into this series, it’ll most likely be because of its defense. TAKE UNDER 218.5 (-110). New to sports betting? A $110 on Under 218.5 (-110) pays a $100 profit if Toronto and Boston score a combined 218 or fewer points.

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