NBA: Raptors second best odds to win In-Season Tournament Group C

Will the Raptors win Group C?

At +450, the Toronto Raptors have the second best odds to win the In-Season Tournament’s Group C on Bodog. The Boston Celtics are the betting favourites. Jayson Tatum and the Celtics have -200 odds to win the group. On paper, this looks like one of the easiest groups to play in. If you remove the Celtics, the Raptors have to compete with the Nets, Magic, and Bulls.

For the Raptors to win this group, they will need to have a better group record than the Celtics or beat them head-to-head so they can have the tiebreaker advantage. Each team in the group will play one game against the other teams in the group. Right now the Celtics are 1-0, they defeated the Brooklyn Nets. The Celtics are 7-2 overall this season and easily the best team in this group. They could drop a game, but will probably finish with three or four wins.

If the Celtics win three games, the Raptors must defeat them to win the group. There is no other way for them to win the group because three wins and a loss to Boston will give the Celtics the group. The Raptors have enough talent to beat the Celtics in a regular season game, every NBA team can pull off a big upset. The Raptors likely will not be able to upset the Celtics if players are treating the In-Season Tournament seriously, but they definitely have a shot. The other teams in the group are more than capable of beating the Raptors, so winning this group will be tough considering the circumstances.

Who are the betting favourites in the other groups?

The East Group A teams are the Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Detroit Pistons. The 76ers are favoured to win the group with +130 odds. The 76ers should win this group based on talent alone. The Cavaliers were probably a solid pick before the tournament started, but they are 0-1 in the group and lost to the Pacers. They will probably need to win the rest of their games to have a shot. The other teams in the group have much less talent than the 76ers. The Hawks currently have the second best odds at +275, and the Pacers are right behind them at +300. The Pistons have the worst odds with +8000.

The East Group B teams are the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, New York Knicks, and Washington Wizards. None of these teams have had a great start to the season. The Bucks are 5-4, the Heat are 6-4, and the Knicks are 5-4. The Wizards and Hornets have two of the worst records in the east. Other than the Wizards, because they have two losses in the group, any of these teams could win the group. The Bucks should win, but they do not look unbeatable so far this season.,but they are the betting favourites to win this group at -150. The Heat have the second best odds with +300 on Bodog.

What about the West?

The West Group A teams are the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers, and Memphis Grizzlies. The Lakers are the betting favourites with -300 odds to win the group. This is a tough group to bet on because all of the teams are dealing with injuries or struggling early on this season. The Suns are 4-6 this regular season and 0-1 in the group. They are also waiting for star guard Devin Booker to return from injury. The Grizzlies are 0-2 in the group 2-8 overall this season. The Jazz and Trail Blazers have two of the worst records in the NBA, but each have one win in the group.

The West Group B teams are the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, and New Orleans Pelicans. The Nuggets are the betting favourites at -150. This group looks like a race between the Nuggets and Mavericks. The Mavericks have the second best odds at +450. The biggest concern for the Mavericks is they lost their first group game against the Nuggets, so they need to have a better record to win the group. They might be able to pull it off because Nuggets guard Jamal Murray is out because of a right hamstring strain and will not return to the court this month, according to ESPN.

The West Group C teams are the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors are the betting favourites. This should be the Warriors’ group to lose. On paper, the Warriors are clearly the best team in the group. There are not a lot of reasons to bet against them here, but anything can happen.