Raptors picks and props vs. Bulls Jan. 18: Bet on Scottie Barnes to have a monster night
The Toronto Raptors host the Chicago Bulls tonight for the second leg of their back-to-back.
The pregame narrative: Toronto traded Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers yesterday and the team responded with a blowout win over the Miami Heat. Scottie Barnes had a hyper-efficient night and I'm expecting that production to continue as the team's bonafide No. 1.
See how we're betting on this game in our Raptors picks vs. the Bulls for January 18.
NBA oddsas of 10:25 a.m. ET on 01/18/2024.
Raptors picks and props vs. Bulls
Best Bet: Barnes over 32.5 pts/rebs/ast (-122)
This is officially Barnes' team.
With every member from the 2019 championship squad, save for Chris Boucher, out of the door, it's time for the 2021 No. 4 overall pick to take the reins.
Barnes is having his best season to date, posting career highs in points (20.1), rebounds (8.4), and assists (5.6), as well as effective field goal percentage (54.7%) and 3-point rate (37.3%).
He hasn't had a great start to the new year but yesterday's showing against the Bulls is hopefully a sign of things to come. Barnes put up 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting and added eight assists to go with five rebounds (33 PRA).
With Siakam's production — 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game — needing to be filled, that type of stat line should be Barnes' floor.
The Bulls are a very middle-of-the-road matchup for Barnes. He's played them twice this year and smashed this total once with a 22-point triple-double, before falling just shy of it in the second meeting (29 PRA).
Key stat: Barnes is averaging 35.8 PRA at home.
Quick pick
Bulls moneyline (-130): The Bulls haven't played since Monday and have a substantial rest advantage tonight. I'm expecting them to handle a Raptors team that just lost its top scorer.
Toronto is 2-5 outright this year playing on no rest while Chicago is 4-2 outright with a rest advantage.
The Raptors handled the Heat yesterday but lost each of the previous four games, allowing an average of 127.0 points in those games.
