Free Pick | NBA | Friday | Dec. 29

#555 Toronto Raptors +8.5 over Boston Celtics 6:40 PM CT

Detroit made a great effort last night looking to snap its record losing streak in style against one of the league’s best teams. The Pistons shot incredibly well early to test Boston but predictably lost in overtime. It wound up being a much more taxing game for the Celtics than they would have liked, and this is a Boston team with only a nine-man rotation most nights. Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday played 43 and 44 minutes respectively and hosting Toronto tonight could be a challenging turnaround. With Boston 15-0 S/U at home the Celtics still warrant a hefty favorite price tag tonight, but Toronto should be ready for the opportunity having only played one game in the last week, a blowout win at Washington on Wednesday. The Raptors are just 3-8 in the past 11 games but six of the losses have come by 10 or fewer points through a difficult path on the schedule. Boston won in a close lower-scoring game when these teams met most recently in November with a 108-105 result and while Boston has won six in a row in this series, four of those six wins have come by six or fewer points. The Raptors are a good scoring team and that pushes the pace of play while the Raptors are also a strong rebounding team. With some fatigue likely for the Celtics, a competitive showing from Toronto seems likely Friday night.