NBA: Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls
NBA: Toronto Raptors at Chicago Bulls Reuters

One of the teams on the rise, the Toronto Raptors host one of the league’s best teams in the Indiana Pacers Wednesday night.

It appears that sportsbooks don’t have much respect on the Raptors despite riding a three-game winning streak entering the match-up with the Pacers, which are 5.5 favourites.

Both squads are coming of stirring victories and both used a great defensive effort to notch the win. Indiana, the best defensive team in the league holding opponents to just 89.4 points per game, easily defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 91-76 at home Tuesday and the Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls, 85-79 on the road also the same night.

Paul George top-scored with 21 points for Indiana, which held the Cavs to just 10 points in the final canto. Roy Hibbert added 19 points and 5 blocked shots while George Hill had 13 points and 6 rebounds.

Toronto had seven players with 8 points or more versus Chicago led by Jonas Valanciunas, who finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Kyle Lowry had 13 points and 6 assists while DeMar DeRozan had 11 points and 8 rebounds.

The Pacers beat the Raptors last November 8 but it was still with Rudy Gay, who finished with 30 points in that outing. Gay has been traded to the Sacramento Kings early December and the Raptors are 7-3 since shipping out the volume-shooting forward.

Betting Against the Spread (ATS)

Betting Lines: Indiana Pacers (-5.5) vs. Toronto Raptors (O/U: 193.0)
Game time: 10:00 a.m. AEDT

Indiana Pacers Trends
 - The Pacers are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 vs. East teams
- The Pacers are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games vs. Atlantic division teams
- The Pacers are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games on the road

Toronto Raptors Trends
 - Raptors are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games vs. Central division teams
- Raptors are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games
- Raptors are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games vs. East teams