T.M. Selection: Philadelphia 76ers.

I like the Philadelphia 76ers to cover the spread against the Toronto Raptors in this game on Saturday. The 76ers have looked good in their games lately and I think they can carry over that momentum into this series, winning this 1st game. They won 2 games in a row to end the regular season but they have also won 5/6 of their previous 6 games and that 1 loss was against the Raptors in a road game. The 76ers are on their home court to start this series and I think they will be looking for some revenge in this game. Their 2 most recent wins both came by 10+ points and they were resting Embiid in their final game of the season too. He has looked really good in the games he has been playing in though and I think he is going to help lead his team to a huge win over the Raptors and I also expect Harden to have a big night now that the playoffs have arrived. The Raptors have also looked good in their games lately, they did win 3 games in a row but lost in their most recent game to the Knicks after resting a majority of their starters in that game. They still didn't look good in that game though and I think the 76ers have a deeper bench that will help them stay ahead in this game. The Raptors a good team with their starting rotation but their bench is not as deep as it used to be in years and I think that is going to be the difference for them here in this road game. Fred VanVleet has also been banged up lately and even if he returns for this game, he has still missed their 3 most recent games and he didn't have a huge impact in the few games he played before going out with an injury. I like the 76ers to cover the spread in this game.

T.M. Prediction: 111-101 76ers.