Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors Pick Game 5

The Toronto Raptors (61-25) and the Orlando Magic (43-43) will face off for Game Five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in the Great White North. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM and will be televised for audiences on FSN and TSN. After dropping the opening game to the Magic in the Great White North, the Raptors have reeled off three consecutive wins to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. In Game Four, the Raptors covered easily as a 5.5-point favorite when they defeated Orlando on its own turf by a score of 107-85.

Orlando Magic at Toronto Raptors Overview

Orlando Magic

In Game Four, Orlando’s offense gave their defense no breaks as they committed 17 turnovers to Toronto’s 14. On the year, the Magic defense held opponents to 106.6 points per outing (5th in the NBA), so on paper, they held serve against the Raptors. However, their offense paid no dividends to keep the Magic competitive. Moreover, Orlando was outmuscled down low as they were outscored 50-36 in the paint.

Toronto Raptors

The Raptors shot lights out in Game Four as they found a success rate of 53.3% from the field against an Orlando team known for their defensive acumen. The Raptors will look to build upon this success in Game Four as the Magic shot a fifth-ranked 47.4% from the field this year while keeping the opposition to a field goal percentage of 44.9% (5th in the NBA). In Game Four, Toronto was successful in this endeavor as well as Orlando hit 42% of their field goal attempts and were a salty 21.2% from beyond the arc.

Reasons To Avoid Orlando

This series has very quickly gotten away from the Magic. Given the manner in which Toronto has surged to the front in this series, Orlando might very well enter into this game flat and demoralized. Toronto smells the blood in the water, and as a result, they will be a very tough team to fade here being motivated to close it out in their own stead.

Reasons To Back Toronto

The Great White North will be rocking for Game Five as a date with Philadelphia in the Conference Semifinals seems to be on the horizon for We The North. Toronto is known for one of the most notorious home court advantages in all of basketball, and they are up against an Orlando team that stands at 18-25 SU this year away from their own arena. Combining this with the fact that Toronto has held the Magic to under 100 points in each of their three wins this series since the Game One upset, the more motivated Raptors are in a position to outright bully the Magic.