After an offensive burst that saw 51 points in the third quarter and a finish with 145 points, the Philadelphia 76ers evened up the series with the Brooklyn Nets and are hoping their offense travels to the Tri-State. The Sixers offense wasn’t very good on the road this season and the Nets defense has been one of the best in the league since the all-star break.
The Sixers opened as 3.5-point favorites (since moved to -3) with a total of 227.5.
STANDOUT STATS
- After stealing Game 1 with a balanced scoring attack from the entire roster, the Nets regressed a bit in Game 2 and outside of D’Angelo Russell, no starter managed to score more than 10 points. Spencer Dinwiddie paced the Nets in Game 2 with 19 points and he and Caris LeVert have both scored double digits off the bench through two games.
- Although the Sixers are a decent three-point shooting team at home, they were horrible from behind the arc in road games this season. Philly was ranked 27th in three-point shooting percentage (33.7 percent) while averaging 30.9 attempts from the perimeter. Through two games in this series, the Sixers have shot 12-for-48 from deep (25 percent).
- A lot of the Sixers’ playoff hopes hinge on the health of Joel Embiid. The center is dealing with a knee injury and although he has played both games, he’s only played a total of 45 minutes. Embiid still managed to score more than 20 points in each of those games and is averaging over 50 percent from the field in the series.
- The Nets were one of the best defenses in the league after the all-star break as they held teams to 111.3 points per game and were tied for the best opponent field-goal percentage (43.5 percent). They also were very good at limiting teams from behind the arc, ranking third by holding teams to only 32.7 percent shooting on 33.1 attempts. When playing at home, the Nets were even better with the opposition shooting 41.5 percent from the field and 29.9 percent from deep.
- Although the total fell short for OVER bettors in Game 1, it came back in a huge way for Game 2. The Sixers scored 51 points in the third quarter and the final combined score was 268. That was more in line with how these teams fared during the regular season and anticipating a high-scoring game in this matchup could be a profitable endeavor. When these teams met during the year, the total went OVER three out of four games with an average combined score of 237.2.
My Best Bet for Sixers vs Nets
OVER 227.5
I heavily considered the UNDER for Game 3 but once I looked at the pace of these teams and how many shots they’re getting up (91 per game), I lean to the OVER. The Sixers have shot horribly through two games from behind the arc and I don’t think that will happen three games in a row. I expect Joel Embiid to play more than 25 minutes in this game and he was a beast against the Nets during the regular season, averaging over 30 points per game.
The Nets were a much faster-paced team at home and while they defended the three-point line well, they still ranked in the bottom 10 in opponent attempts. If you’re not feeling good either way about the total, the Nets +3 would be a decent alternative.
