Following two games north of the border, the Raptors-Sixers series now shifts back to Philly tied at one game apiece. Toronto was a fairly sizable favorite in both of its home games (-6.5 and -7.5), but with the Sixers playing in front of a home crowd tonight, the Raps are favored by just 1.5.
However, that's not where oddsmakers opened the line for tonight. In fact, it was the Sixers who were 1.5-point favorites when sportsbooks released opening lines after Monday night's Game 2.
So, why the jump across the fence to favor the visiting side?
For starters, the Raptors are the more popular pick, and by a pretty significant amount. They're driving 64% of bets and 66% of money, and considering that this is the only NBA playoff game tonight, the massive handle makes those figures all the more impactful.
But still, we're not talking about percentages in the 70s or 80s, and even those sometimes aren't enough to drive substantial line movement on their own. So there's certainly a possibility that there's something else in play here.
Hello, sharps.
Since opening, the Raptors have driven five Sports Insights Bet Signals in the form of steam moves. Steam refers to heavy action hitting the same side over a short period of time that causes an industry-wide line move, and is a strong indication of sharp action.
Toronto's five moves have come at numbers ranging from +1 to -1, and have been countered only once by a steam move on Philly (+1).
