The Philadelphia 76ers are on a nice roll by winning five in a row and getting Joel Embiid back in the lineup from injury. But their kryptonite, the Boston Celtics, will be in the City of Brotherly Love tonight and the Sixers have yet to figure out their divisional rival as they’ve lost three straight to Boston this season and were beaten in five games by the C’s in last year’s playoffs.
The Sixers opened as 3-point favorites with a total of 226.
STANDOUT STATS
- The Sixers are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games on a back-to-back this season but all 10 of those games were played on the road.
- The Sixers are averaging 117.8 points per game at home (ranked third) and own a +8.2 point differential in home games. At home, they rank in the top five in field-goal and three-point percentage and third in assists per game.
- Since Joel Embiid’s return for the Sixers, they’ve won four games in a row with him in the lineup with victories over the Bucks, Kings, Pacers and Cavaliers. In those games, the Sixers have a +6.3 point differential and are averaging 119.3 points per game while holding teams to 43.4 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent from behind the arc.
- The Celtics have beaten the Sixers three times this season and covered the spread each time. When they faced each other in February, the game was in Philadelphia and the Celtics didn’t have Kyrie Irving in the lineup. The C’s won by three and shot 45 percent from behind the arc.
- Since the all-star break, the Celtics are 3-4 SU in seven road games and are allowing teams to shoot 47.4 percent from the field. However, they’re scoring 111.7 points per game and only committing 11.9 turnovers per game (ranked third).
- The total has gone UNDER in 10 of the Celtics’ last 13 games on the road (avg. combined score: 218.77). The UNDER has also hit in four of the last six games in this matchup.
My Best Bet for Celtics vs Sixers
Sixers -3
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t with the Celtics this season, so I’m going to take a step in my recovery by NOT backing the Celtics on the spread and riding with the Sixers. I tend to despise using motivation as a reason for why a team would win a game but this game means soooo much to the Sixers’ morale to beat Boston after last year’s playoff debacle and losing to the C’s three times already this season.
The Sixers’ offense has been ramping up with Embiid back in the lineup and they rested him on purpose in yesterday’s game vs Charlotte to be ready to go for tonight. It’s hard to sweep a divisional rival in a season and while I think the Celtics can beat any team in the NBA, this is the time I think they fall. If you can’t decide on a spread or are like me and have been burned by these teams too many times, you can’t go wrong with the UNDER.
