Cleveland Cavaliers vs Toronto Raptors Prediction, 1/1/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Toronto Raptors

Date: Monday, January 1, 2024

Location: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON

TV: TSN

The Cleveland Cavaliers (18-14) are hitting the road to Scotiabank Arena on Monday where they will attempt to defeat the Toronto Raptors (12-20).

The Cavaliers played the Bucks and took a loss by a final of 119-111 in their last contest. With respect to fouls, the Cavaliers finished with 20 while the Bucks had 15 fouls. They also made 12 of 29 tries from beyond the arc. Milwaukee finished the contest at 89.3% from the charity stripe by making 25 of their 28 tries. Additionally, Milwaukee collected 43 boards (7 offensive, 36 defensive) and had 7 rejections. Milwaukee doled out 26 dimes and had 5 steals for this game. When it comes to defending, Cleveland let their opponent shoot 51.3% from the floor on 41 out of 80 shooting. They also distributed 28 dimes for the game as well as forcing the other team into 17 turnovers and getting 11 steals. Regarding rebounding, they earned 37 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. From the free throw line, the Cavaliers converted 7 of 9 tries for a rate of 77.8%. Cleveland walked away from the game with a 47.6% field goal percentage (49 out of 103) and made 6 of 43 shots from beyond the arc.

Donovan Mitchell is one player who played a role for the contest. Mitchell ended up shooting 60.9% from the field and also dished out 9 assists. He played for 36 mins played and also collected 6 rebounds. He had 34 points on 14 of 23 shooting.

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Cleveland will play this game with a record of 18-14 so far this season. They are averaging 112.0 pts per contest (24th in the NBA) while hitting 47.2% from the floor. The Cavaliers are hitting 34.6% on 3-point shots (396 of 1,144) and 76.4% from the free throw line. As a unit, Cleveland is snagging 44.1 boards per contest and is sitting with 840 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 12th in the league in terms of passing. They lose possession by turning the ball over 14.0 times per contest and as a squad are committing 19.3 fouls on a nightly basis.

On the defensive end, the Cavaliers are able to force 14.3 turnovers per game and they draw 19.5 personal fouls. They concede 36.1% on shots from downtown while they are 9th in the NBA in opponents points per game (112.0). The Cavaliers are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 46.2% (1,292 of 2,796) and they concede 42.7 boards per contest as a group. They rank 7th in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 793 surrendered on the season.

The last time they took the court, the Raptors walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 129-127 when they played the Pistons. The Raptors earned 27 defensive boards and 6 offensive rebounds for a total of 33 for the contest. They turned the ball over 7 times, while getting 9 steals in this matchup. The Pistons were called for 22 fouls for the matchup which took the Raptors to the free throw line for 28 tries. They were able to bury 23 of the free throw tries for a rate of 82.1%. When discussing shooting from downtown, Toronto made 12 out of their 24 attempts (50.0%). Overall, the Raptors went 46 out of 91 from the floor which had them sitting at 50.5%. The Raptors permitted the Pistons to convert 41 of 82 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 50.0% in the matchup. They finished the game shooting 42.9% from 3-point land by going 12 of 28 and walked away from this one shooting 35 of 40 at the charity stripe (87.5%). In regard to rebounding, Toronto permitted Detroit to snag 41 overall (6 on the offensive glass).

Pascal Siakam ended up being a major contributor for the Raptors in this contest. Siakam totaled 35 points in his 40 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 4 assists for this contest. He made 14 out of 24 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and had 5 rebounds.

Toronto has a win-loss mark of 12-20 for the year. The Raptors have committed 18.4 fouls per contest while shooting 73.7% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 29.5 times per game (3rd in the league) and they are giving up possession 13.8 times per contest. Toronto has accounted for 3,637 points for the campaign (113.7 per game) and they grab 44.6 rebounds per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Raptors are hitting on 47.5% from the field, which is 13th in the league.

The Raptors defensively are ranked 17th in the league in PPG given up with 115.0. They are forcing 13.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 48.3% from the floor (22nd in basketball). The Toronto defense concedes 38.1% from downtown (412 of 1,082) and opponents are making 79.6% of their shots from the free throw line. They allow 27.4 dimes and 43.3 total boards per game, ranking them 25th and 15th in basketball.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Toronto

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