Raptors picks vs. Clippers Jan. 10: Bet on L.A. to clear its team total

The Toronto Raptors continue their West Coast road trip as guests of the Los Angeles Clippers.

The pregame narrative: Toronto suffered a contentious 132-131 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday and will be back in the same building playing for its fifth road game in eight nights. The red-hot Clippers should get the best of a worn-down Raptors squad.

See how we're betting on this game in our Raptors picks vs. the Clippers for January 10.

NBA oddsas of 9:28 a.m. ET on 01/10/2024.

Raptors picks vs. Clippers

Best Bet: Clippers over 123.5 points (-120)

If you don't believe that last night's game was a mess, just take a look at Darko Rajakovic's presser:

Toronto lost by a point after Los Angeles went 19-for-23 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. It wouldn't be entirely fair to nail the Raptors for that loss, and those free throws helped the Lakers clear this specific 123.5 team total.

But even with Toronto likely fired up after that speech, I'm expecting L.A. to give it to a tired group tonight.

And that's because the Clippers are a much better team than their Crypto.com Arena co-tenants. Take a look at each team's splits since the Lakers won the NBA In-Season Tournament on Dec. 9:

The Clippers have been one of the hottest teams in the league in the past month and are more than capable of dropping 124-plus points against the Raptors' defence.

Toronto's offence has certainly looked better with Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett but the team ranks 24th in defensive rating since making the trade on New Year's Eve.

Key stat: Toronto has allowed 130-plus points in two of its past three games.

Quick pick

Clippers -9.5 (-106): Let's double down on Los Angeles by backing it to cover a seemingly lofty spread. Toronto has kept each of its past seven games within five points but this back-to-back should be a tough test.

The Clippers are 6-2 ATS with a rest advantage this season while the Raptors are 2-4 ATS on no rest.

Los Angeles has also covered the spread in five of its past six games, winning four of those contests by double digits.