Tip-off: Monday, 7:35 p.m. ET
Line: Miami -6, Total: 196

The Heat look for their third straight win when they host the Raptors, winners of three straight, on Monday night.

Toronto defeated the Magic 98-93 on Sunday for their its straight victory and to improve to 13-6 SU (11-7-1 ATS) since Feb. 21. The Raptors have now won four of their past five games and are playing well amidst a race for the No. 3 seed where they are 2.5 games ahead of the Nets. Miami has now won two straight games after defeating the Bucks 88-67 in Milwaukee on Saturday. The club has three straight ATS victories, allowing a mere 76.3 PPG on 36% FG during these three contests. The Heat won the last meeting with the Raptors 102-97 at home Jan. 5, but failed to cover a six-point spread. This gave Miami 14 straight victories in this series with Toronto, going 3-0 SU (2-1 ATS) this season. The Raptors are 18-6 ATS this season after two straight games of giving up 10 or less offensive rebounds, while the Heat are 7-1 ATS this season after allowing 85 points or less in their previous game. SG Dwyane Wade (hamstring) and C Greg Oden (back) are listed as questionable for the Heat, but fortunately SG Ray Allen (flu) and PG Mario Chalmers (quad) are both likely to play against Toronto, which has no significant injuries.

Which surging team will extend its winning streak on Monday night? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2012-13 season. StatFox Dave has a strong 57% ATS (47-36-1) Best Bets record since Dec. 1, while StatFox Brian remains profitable, going 54% ATS (25-21-1) since Jan. 25. StatFox Gary is also heating up with a 59% ATS mark (17-12) since Feb. 13, while StatFox Zach is a stellar 73% ATS (11-4) since March 9.

The Raptors have played very well as of late and SF DeMar DeRozan (22.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.9 APG) has led the way for them. DeRozan had 28 points (6-of-14 FG) against the Magic and was able to get to the line at will where he was lights-out shooting (15-of-16 FT). In the previous game, DeRozan had 30 points in a win over Boston. He is averaging 24.0 PPG in three games against Miami this season and must keep that up, as he will be guarding a banged-up Dwyane Wade (if he plays), giving DeRozan a real chance to dominate offensively. PG Kyle Lowry (17.5 PPG, 7.6 APG, 1.6 SPG) has played very well for Toronto recently as well, averaging 19.0 PPG 5.4 APG and 5.0 RPG in his past five games. Lowry is averaging 14.0 PPG and 6.7 APG against the Heat this season, and will need to have a big game Monday night for his club to avoid being swept in the season series. Lowry will be going up against Mario Chalmers, who has missed his past two games with a quad injury. Chalmers should be rusty in his return and that could allow Lowry to really take control of this game. C Jonas Valanciunas (10.7 PPG, 8.6 RPG) had 20 points and nine rebounds in the win over Orlando. The big man is averaging 13.0 PPG and 9.4 RPG over the past five contests, and he could be a huge factor in this game, especially if Greg Oden does not play.

The Heat have won two straight games after dropping a close one to the Pacers last week. SF LeBron James (26.7 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 6.4 APG) has gotten to rest a little bit over the past two games, averaging just 30.0 MPG in the two contests. Over the past five contests, James is averaging 25.0 PPG, 7.8 RPG and 6.6 APG, and he has been a Raptors killer this season with 30.7 PPG on 64% FG in three games against the team this season. SG Dwyane Wade (19.2 PPG, 4.8 APG, 4.6 RPG) has missed four of the past five games for Miami, but has played very well against Toronto with 18.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 4.7 APG in 34.3 MPG in the three meetings this season. Wade is questionable for the game on Monday, but there’s a chance he does give it a go, as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference is still up for grabs with his team trailing conference-leading Indiana by just one game. PF Chris Bosh (16.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG) has had his struggles against the Raptors this season, averaging just 6.0 PPG and 8.0 RPG in 27.0 MPG over two games. Bosh will need to be a lot better offensively if the Heat are going to come away with a win in this one. Bosh could also see plenty of time guarding Jonas Valanciunas, so he must be ready to be more physical inside.