New York Knicks vs. Toronto Raptors NBA Betting Preview, Analysis

No other team is flying under the radar more than the Toronto Raptors (30-15) right now heading into their Atlantic Division matchup with the New York Knicks (22-25) on Thursday night.

With all the hype surrounding the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers, the Raptors have quietly won nine games in a row straight up and covered the spread in eight of them on the NBA betting lines at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Toronto continues a seven-game homestand against New York and has won and covered each of the first five so far after routing the Washington Wizards 106-89 as an eight-point favorite on Tuesday.

All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry scored a game-high 29 points for the victors but left with about four minutes remaining due to a wrist injury. Lowry’s X-rays came back negative, though, and he is listed as questionable to play versus the Knicks, who have covered six of the past seven meetings with the Raptors, according to the Odds Shark NBA Database.

New York won the only game between the teams earlier this season back on November 10, defeating Toronto 111-109 as a 7.5-point road underdog. The Knicks have also split the past four meetings at the Air Canada Centre, but they might be missing leading scorer Carmelo Anthony (21.3 points per game) this time around because he is still nursing a sore knee.

Anthony missed New York’s 128-122 overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder as a nine-point home dog on Tuesday, and the team is just 2-5 SU and ATS since he suffered the injury in a 120-114 win over the Boston Celtics on January 12.

Like Lowry, Anthony is also listed as questionable and may sit again here because the Knicks play on back-to-back nights. They have not fared well in the first games of back-to-backs this season, going 3-7 SU but 5-5 ATS and failing to cover their last two.

New York will host the Phoenix Suns on Friday to open a three-game homestand at Madison Square Garden after trying to end a four-game road losing streak in this spot.

Depending on the status of Anthony and Lowry, who averages 20.9 points, this could be another high-scoring affair. The over has cashed in the past four meetings for totals bettors and is also 5-2 in the last seven for the Raptors overall. The total has gone over in three of the previous four road games for the Knicks as well.