NBA Betting Preview: Toronto Raptors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Game 5 Odds

The top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers probably did not expect to be in this spot after breezing through the first two rounds of the playoffs by sweeping the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks and then taking a 2-0 series lead over the second-seeded Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals.

That lead is now gone, as the Raptors evened the series with two home wins, and they will be back in Cleveland for Game 5 on Wednesday. The Cavs are listed as consensus 10.5-point favorites at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark after closing -11 for Game 1 and -11.5 for Game 2 at home.

Cleveland has been favored in every game of the series so far, and that will not change despite Toronto’s recent efforts. The Cavs won the first two games at home by an average of 25 points before dropping two in a row by a combined 21 points at the Air Canada Centre, where they are 0-4 straight up and against the spread this season, according to the Odds Shark NBA Database.

Home-court advantage may end up being the deciding factor if this pattern continues, with Cleveland owning the edge.

However, the Cavs must get better production from power forward Kevin Love if they are going to eliminate the Raptors. Love has been a non-factor in the last two games, scoring a total of 13 points on 5-of-23 shooting (21.7 percent) and grabbing just 11 rebounds.

Love sat out the fourth quarter of Cleveland’s 105-99 loss in Game 4 on Monday, which fueled speculation that he could be playing with an injury, although head coach Tyronn Lue denied it after replacing him with Channing Frye down the stretch.

Meanwhile, the Raptors got outstanding performances from their All-Star backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan at home and will need to see similar results from both players on the road to win Game 5.

Lowry scored a series-high 35 points on 14-of-20 shooting in Game 4 after totaling 20 in Game 3. He averaged nine points in the first two games compared to 20 for DeRozan, who scored 32 in both Games 3 and 4.

Center Bismack Biyombo has also been a force inside for Toronto, averaging 20 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in the last two games, up significantly from 4.5 and one per game, respectively, in the first two.