Tipping off at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers will be facing off in an Eastern Conference clash. Cleveland currently holds a 3-2 series advantage, but the action will travel to Toronto tonight. The home team is undefeated in this series thus far, and Cleveland will be looking to break this trend in a potential closeout matchup.

You can check out the full preview and prediction for the series on DraftKings Network here.

Looking at the odds for Game 6, the Cavaliers enter as 4.5-point favorites and hold -192 odds of winning outright on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Raptors hold +160 odds of winning outright with the game total set at 218.5.

Cavaliers vs. Raptors preview

It was an up-and-down regular season for the Cavaliers, and this has carried itself into the playoffs. After the outlook became a bit stale around the current core, Cleveland pushed their chips in and traded for James Harden at the deadline. The Cavaliers finished the season 52-30, including 19-7 following Harden’s addition, and secured the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland went 33-49 against the spread, and 40-42 to the over in the regular season.

Even following Harden’s addition, Donovan Mitchell still headlines the production for Cleveland. The seven-time All-Star posted averages of 27.9 points, 5.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds across the regular season. Harden added 20.5 points and 7.7 assists across his 26 games in Cleveland, while Evan Mobley posted averages of 18.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Jarrett Allen, Max Strus, Jaylon Tyson and Dean Wade also play notable roles. It is a clean injury report for Cleveland in the Game 5 matchup.

As a team, the Cavaliers scored 119.5 points per game across the regular season, which ranked fourth in the NBA. Cleveland also ranks sixth in offensive rating, eighth in field goal percentage, and 13th in three-point percentage. Defensively, opponents have scored 115.4 points per game against the Cavaliers, which ranks 15th. They also rank 15th in defensive rating, eighth in opponent field goal percentage, and 26th in opponent three-point percentage.

The Toronto Raptors were one of the biggest positive surprises in the regular season and have carried this effort level into the postseason. After falling in 2-0 series trap, the organization scrapped back to even things up in front of their home crowd, and will attempt to do the same tonight. They finished the regular season with a 46-36 overall record to earn the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. On the season, Toronto has gone 42-40 against the spread, and the game total remained under in 50 of their 82 games played.

Immanuel Quickley will miss the Game 6 matchup today with a right hamstring strain. He has not played in this series due to the issue. Brandon Ingram is also listed as doubtful due to right heel inflammation. Ingram left the Game 5 loss after just 11:22 of play, scoring just one point in the process, and started the day listed as questionable before being downgraded. The two-time All-Star headlines the Raptors’ scoring attack, posting averages of 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists across the regular season.

Scottie Barnes sets the tone for this Raptors team and has impressed in the postseason. He averaged 18.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists across the regular season, and has seen these averages grow to 24.0 points, 8.0 assists and 5.4 rebounds across the first five postseason games. RJ Barrett also added 19.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists this season. Collin Murray-Boyles, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Jakob Poeltl, Ja’Kobe Walter and Jamal Shead also play notable roles.

Darko Rajakovic’s squad averaged 114.6 points per game across the regular season, which ranks 21st in the NBA. The Raptors also rank 15th in offensive rating, seventh in field-goal percentage, and 21st in three-point percentage. Defensively, opponents are scoring 111.8 points per game against Toronto, which ranks eighth in the NBA. Toronto also ranks fifth in defensive rating, 10th in opponent field-goal percentage, and fourth in opponent three-point percentage.

Series Takeaways

The Cavaliers tallied a convincing 126-113 win in the opening matchup of the series. Cleveland broke the game open in the third quarter by outscoring the Raptors 36-22 in the period, as Mitchell led the charge with 32 points. This was despite the Raptors shooting 52% from the floor and 48% from beyond the three-point arc. The Cavaliers covered the 8.5-point spread, and the game total went over the 221.5 number.

In Game 2, Toronto fell 115-105 in a game that the Cavaliers led from wire-to-wire. The matchup remained competitive, with the lead never extending beyond 16, but the Raptors were never able to flip the script and take control. Brandon Ingram struggled greatly, finishing with seven points on 3-for-15 shooting, and Toronto shot just 27% from the perimeter. On the other side, Harden, Mitchell, and Mobley each scored 25+ points. Cleveland covered the 9.5-point spread, and the game total remained under the 221.5 line.

Toronto was able to pull off a win in Game 3 in their first matchup in front of the home crowd by a score of 126-104. The Raptors led for 80% of the matchup and stretched this to as large as 25. They shot an impressive 57% from the field and 61% on three-point attempts, with Scottie Barnes leading the charge with his 33 points and 11 assists. No member of the Cavaliers’ starting lineup was able to crack 18 points. Toronto won outright as 2.5-point underdogs, and the game total went over the 221.5 line.

This trend continued in Game 4, with the Raptors producing a 93-89 win. Toronto shot just 4-for-30 (13.3%) on three-point attempts, which is the lowest three-point percentage from a team with at least 25 perimeter attempts in a playoff win in NBA history. Cleveland shot just 25% from beyond the arc and 37% from the field themselves, to keep the window open for the Raptors to produce the win. Harden’s turnover issues proved problematic, with the former MVP turning the ball over 15 times across Game 3 and Game 4.

Cleveland got back on top with a 125-120 win in Game 5. The Raptors stretched their lead to as many as 12 and held an advantage for 58% of the matchup, but the Cavaliers outscored them 58-46 in the second half to get the win. This was despite Toronto pulling in 13 more rebounds and playing some of their most efficient offense in the series.

Through the opening five games, the home team is undefeated in the series. The Raptors are 3-2 against the spread, and the game total has gone over in three of the five games played.

Cavaliers vs. Raptors Game 6 prediction, pick

This season should be viewed as a success for the Raptors regardless of how this series concludes. Unfortunately, expect this to be their final game of the season.

Toronto has found a defensive-minded identity and laid a foundation to build off of moving forward, but their lack of reliable offensive creators is a problem, and is further magnified by the absence of Immanuel Quickley and, likely, Brandon Ingram. The Raptors ranked 21st in scoring this season, and winning a game while shooting 32% from the floor and 13% on three-point attempts the way they did in Game 4 is not a sustainable blueprint. Ingram has struggled this series overall, but his skill to get to his spots in the half-court is necessary within the flow of attack.

While the Cavaliers have left something to be desired on the defensive end this season, they possess a scoring punch that the Raptors cannot match. Both Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are capable of taking over a game and putting forth a game-changing scoring spurt at any point. Mitchell has struggled in this series, but has met the moment of the playoffs before.

This is not a Cleveland team with a ton of patience in the organization. While the addition of Harden does not make it easy to click in such a short amount of time, the former MVP is fighting his own battle with Father Time and desperately looking to add more postseason success to his career resume.

Expect the Cavaliers to smell blood in the water and deliver the knockout punch on an inferior Raptors team. Cleveland has not played to their peak level in this series just yet, and there are advantages in the matchup they have not capitalized on. Look for Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen to do a better job on the interior and limit the gap in rebounding production. When push comes to shove, there is much more reason for belief in this Cavaliers team’s crunch time offense. Count on Toronto’s inability to generate consistent good looks in the half-court to plague them and for Cleveland to cover the 4.5-point spread to officially punch their ticket to the second round.

Best Bet: Cavaliers -4.5 (-110)