Vegas releases early lines for key 2019-20 NBA games

Ready to play fast and loose with some of your hard-earned cash? Our friends* at the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook have released early point spreads for their 2019-20 NBA games of the year, and wouldn’t you know it — your defending NBA Champion Toronto Raptors make a couple of appearances.

*Casinos are not your friend. Never, ever. And as always, RaptorsHQ does not condone or recommend gambling, you should always wager within your means!

Betting lines for key Toronto Raptors games

Vegas has three key games with early lines for the Raptors, as follows:

Nov. 25: Philadelphia 76ers at Toronto; PK

This is obviously a re-match of last season’s Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, and the Raptors are clearly a team Philly needs to overcome to get to the next level. Four key players from that series are gone, in Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Jimmy Butler and JJ Redick, but Joel Embiid and Marc “The Embiid Stopper” Gasol remain, so it should be a fun, and close game — and “PK” line (meaning no team is favoured and the point spread is zero) obviously represents that.

Dec. 11: Los Angeles Clippers at Toronto; Clippers -2

Surely the most anticipated game on the Raptors schedule, featuring the return of the comet that brought us an NBA title (aka Kawhi Leonard); the Clippers are the favourites here as the road team, though by a mere two points. That’s probably the right line; the Clippers have more top-end talent than Toronto even if at this point, the Raptors might have the more complete team. What will be interesting is LA’s health; Paul George doesn’t have a timetable yet for his return from shoulder surgery, and surely the Clippers will be extra cautious with both George and Leonard. The Clippers are also in the midst of a six-game Eastern Conference road trip… and emotions will certainly be high. I think the Raptors are a good bet here.

Dec. 25: Boston Celtics at Toronto; Raptors -2

Our first-ever Christmas Day home game! And the Raptors are favoured! I’ll admit, I’m fascinated to see what this Celtics team looks like; they lost a lot of talent over the summer in Kyrie Irving and Al Horford, but there’s a possibility they’ll actually improve, because the apparent headache that Kyrie Irving had become (the ol’ addition by subtraction). Either way it’s a team that will need some time to figure it out; will they have done so by Christmas? Vegas seems to think our veteran Raptors squad can handle them.

Other notable 2019-20 NBA betting lines

If following the Raptors is stressful enough already without wagering money but you still have a gambling itch to scratch, here are three other games with early lines you might want to check out:

Oct. 25: Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Lakers; Lakers, -3.5

Two teams that had summer makeovers and have championship aspirations meet in this early-season matchup, and I think the Jazz are a decent bet here. It’s been proven again and again — it takes time to learn how to play with LeBron James. I suspect the Lakers will need a good 2-3 months to really gel. Meanwhile, Mike Conley seems like the kind of point guard who’ll fit in anywhere; I’m not sure the Jazz are actually great title contenders but they’ll be a good regular season team, and I think they can win this one in LA.

Nov. 20: Portland Trailblazers at Houston Rockets; Rockets, -6.5

Hmm, Vegas really likes the Harden-Westbrook reunion, eh? I don’t know; I might be partial to the continuity of the Lillard-McCollum combo in this early-season matchup, myself. Can we at least see the Rockets play a game together before we have them beating a proven Portland team? I’d give the Blazers a shot here.

Dec. 25: Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers; PK

The Battle of LA begins! Both of these teams have loaded up, and there’s plenty of bad blood potential beyond just the LA rivalry, after Kawhi Leonard kept the Lakers on a string for a week before joining the Clippers — and taking Paul George with him. It really should be a good on-court matchup beyond all the drama too. The PK line seems weak here, but I guess I can’t blame Vegas — it’s a tough matchup to call. I think calm, cool, collected Kawhi isn’t going to be fazed, though, so I have the Clippers taking this “road” game.

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So there you have it, some early betting drama to sink your teeth into — and some games we can already look forward to. The NBA season can’t come soon enough!