Among the three games scheduled to be played across the NBA on Thursday is an Eastern Conference showdown between the Raptors and the Cavaliers. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBA TV. The Raptors had the day off Wednesday, but this will be the second game of a back-to-back set for the Cavaliers.
Below, we'll preview the game and break down three of the top Raptors vs. Cavaliers NBA Picks on PrizePicks for Thursday, including for Cavaliers F/C Evan Mobley and Raptors F Brandon Ingram.
Raptors vs. Cavs Prediction, Picks for Thursday NBA
Mobley (rest), G Donovan Mitchell (rest), G Darius Garland (toe), and G Jaylon Tyson (concussion) all sat out the Cavaliers’ win over the Heat on Wednesday. Garland and Tyson might not be cleared to return for Thursday, but Mitchell and Mobley would seem to be trending towards playing, considering they were ruled out Wednesday for rest.
The Raptors have listed F Collin Murray-Boyles (illness), C Sandro Mamukelashvili (neck), and G/F Ochai Agbaji (back) as questionable.
Toronto Raptors
- The Raptors are 6-5 out of the gate, including 4-3 on the road. Last season, they were a disastrous 12-29 away from Toronto.
- Helping their cause is that they have been healthy. Among their starting five, C Jakob Poeltl is the only player who hasn’t appeared in every game.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- Despite the Cavaliers sitting so many players Wednesday, they beat the Heat to improve to 8-4 on the season.
- Garland’s ailment is a concern because his toe injury is the same one that he had surgery on during the summer. He missed the first seven games of the season, then appeared in just three games before being sidelined again.
Raptors vs. Cavaliers Picks & NBA DFS
Here are three of the top Raptors vs. Cavaliers DFS picks on PrizePicks for Thursday. Player projections via the PrizePicks real money NBA game.
Cavaliers F/C Evan Mobley vs. Raptors Projection – 19.5 Points
- Mobley has scored at least 20 points in six of his 11 games.
- Despite shooting a career-low 47.9% from the field, the fifth-year forward is still averaging 20.1 points per game.
- After averaging 3.2 three-point attempts per game last season, Mobley has jacked up 5.0 triples per game this season, hitting them at a rate of 34.5%.
- When these two teams met in October, Mobley scored 29 points while shooting 11-for-17 from the field.
- The Raptors and Cavaliers both rank inside the top-ten in the NBA in pace of play.
Raptors F Brandon Ingram vs. Cavaliers Projection – 9.5 Rebs+ Asts
- After playing just 18 games last season, Ingram has appeared in all 11 games for the Raptors.
- Not only has Ingram not missed a game, but he has logged an average of 33 minutes a night.
- With his hefty workload, the former Pelican has averaged 6.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
- Prior to this season, Ingram had averaged at least 5.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists in each of the last four campaigns.
- When he last took on the Cavaliers, the star forward posted 8 rebounds and 5 assists over 35 minutes.
Cavaliers G Sam Merrill vs. Raptors Projection – 4.5 Rebs+Asts
- Merrill is on the floor to jack up three-pointers — he averages 9.6 attempts per game, 8.3 of come from behind the arc.
- Across his last two games, Merrill attempted a total of 24 three-pointers.
- With the former second-round pick looking for his shot, he has only averaged 2.6 assists per game.
- Since Merrill spends a lot of time behind the arc, he doesn’t often find himself in a good position to grab rebounds, leaving him to average just 1.6 boards per game.
- In nine games this season, he has combined for 4 or fewer rebounds and assists seven times. He did not take the floor the last time the Cavaliers played the Raptors.
The Cavaliers should get some of their stars back when they play the second game of a back-to-back set Thursday vs. the Raptors. Mobley has the potential to remain hot in the scoring department, while Merrill might struggle to make much of an impact outside of 3-pointers.
On the Raptors side of things, Ingram will look to continue to stuff the stat sheet, including rebounds and assists.
With plenty of projections to consider for Raptors vs. Cavaliers and the rest of Thursday’s NBA slate, now is the time to build your NBA Lineup on PrizePicks. Just pick More or Less for at least two NBA player stat projections to build your Lineup on PrizePicks. Check out the Playbook for more NBA DFS picks and analysis all the way through the season.
