Minnesota at Toronto – Marion is still in Honeymoon Mode

BetOnline NBA Basketball Odds: TORONTO -6.5, Total 209.5

Here are some of the NBA basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* MINN has covered two of its last eight games

* MINN has lost seven of its last eight games SU

* MINN has played five of its last six games OVER the total

* MINN has covered 12 of its last 15 road games

* MINN has lost four of its last six road games SU

* MINN has played five of its last six road games OVER the total

* TOR has covered three of its last 12 games

* TOR has lost eight of its last 11 games SU

* TOR has played four of its last six games UNDER the total

* TOR has covered three of its last ten home games

* TOR has lost seven of its last ten home games SU

* TOR has played five of its last seven home games UNDER the total

Also…

* TOR has won and covered the last nine meetings

* Six of the last nine meetings have gone UNDER the total

* TOR has won and covered six of the last seven meetings as the home team

* Nine of the last 13 meetings in Toronto have gone OVER the total

* TOR has had the shooting edge in five of the last six meetings

* TOR has had the rebounding edge in five of the last six meetings

Toronto regrouped after losing a 30-point decision to the Knicks to chalk up a 111-100 win over New York at the Air Canada Centre. In that game, Toronto shot 51% from the field, and hit eight of 15 from three-point range. What’s more important, as far as the immediate future of this team, was that Shawn Marion had 16 points and 15 rebounds.

I don’t think Toronto is getting to the playoffs, although you never say never in the Eastern Conference, where you can be well below .500 and get in. You can still defend the Raptors to a certain extent on the deal to acquire Shawn Marion, who had 16 points and 15 rebounds in that game against the Knicks. Marion, who is more of an outside player and athletic presence than Jermaine O’Neal, probably complements Chris Bosh better. Center Andrea Bargnani is a guy who can be effective is he can make his shots from the perimeter, as he did in Sunday’s contest. Jose Calderon has 11 assists with NO turnovers, and of course, he didn’t miss a free throw.

Like we said, this doesn’t necessarily make the Raptors a good team, but if they’re all healthy, it makes them more formidable than before. The T-Wolves, on the other hand may have peaked under Kevin McHale, and may not get back to the point where they strung together a number of wins as they did with their 10-2 run in January. The reason is Al Jefferson, the guy who made the offense go, went down with a torn ACL and was the guy carrying the team most night during their streak. Kevin Love has reached double digits in rebounds in eight of his last ten games, but he can’t hope to supply the inside offense Jefferson did. Neither can anyone else on the roster.

We certainly allow for the fact that the Wolves can be competitive at times, as they were on Sunday with their three-point loss to the Lakers. With two days off after this, however, it is unlikely that Toronto will be looking past this team, nor are they in a position to. I don’t like Marion’s attitude all that much but there’s still a honeymoon period going on, so we’ll continue to ride the new Raptor front court combo, laying the 6.5 points in the BetOnline NBA pro basketball online betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: TORONTO -6.5 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay makes his share of shots from the top of the key as a contributor to the BetOnline Locker Room)