Vegas Play of the Day: Spurs at Raptors

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017 | 8:30 a.m.

We’ve entered the third season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.

Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won the 2015-2016 season, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015. Bern stepped away in the middle of the 2016-2017 season with a 16-12 record and $13,317 bankroll, with Mike Grimala taking his place.

San Antonio Spurs minus-3.5 at Toronto Raptors, $440 to win $400:

Picking a team to cover on the second night of back-to-back road games? That's always tough to do, but the Spurs are starting to roll, carrying a four-game winning streak into tonight's contest at Toronto. Included in that stretch have been wins at Cleveland and Brooklyn, which were impressive in different ways — a close win over the contending Cavs showed the Spurs still have it, and a blowout win (and cover) against the Nets on Monday showed they won't take lesser opponents for granted.

Toronto is a good team, second in the east standings, but San Antonio is significantly better by just about every measure. The last time these teams met, the Spurs landed a 110-82 knockout in San Antonio on Jan. 3, and that game reaffirmed what a hard time the Raptors have matching up against San Antonio. Toronto's game plan is based on a perimeter attack, but San Antonio has the defensive system and the personnel — cough, Kawhi Leonard — to shut that down.

In that game a few weeks ago, Demar DeRozan had a solid showing, scoring 26 points on 12-of-21 shooting, but the Spurs clamped down on point guard Kyle Lowry, holding him to six points on 2-of-9 field goals. Look for the San Antonio defense to do something similar tonight, and look for the Spurs to cover again.

Current Standings: (36-25-2, $12,001), Brewer (21-20-1, $8,885), Grimala (4-3, $9,900), Granger (8-10, $7,100)