76ers vs. Nets Odds
| 76ers Odds | -1 |
| Nets Odds | +1 |
| Over/Under | 222.5 |
| Time | 6 p.m. ET |
| TV | NBA TV |
| Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute NBA odds here. | |
The Philadelphia 76ers will make the short journey to Brooklyn after beating the New York Knicks last night.
Can the new-look Brooklyn Nets defend their home court, or will the 76ers’ experience give them the edge?
Let’s dive into how this game might play out.
Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers have shown some chinks in their armor during the past few weeks as they have gone 3-3 through their past six games.
Even last night, there were stretches of the game where the 76ers defense looked terrible. But, Philadelphia ultimately rallied in the fourth quarter to secure the victory and cover at home.
Philadelphia's point-of-attack defense has been horrible, and it must shore that up against Brooklyn. The Nets are still loaded with offensive talent despite losing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
On offense, the 76ers should have an edge down-low. Brooklyn lacks quality bigs outside of Nic Claxton at center.
Claxton has emerged as a top-five defensive center, but he should still have some issues defending Joel Embiid given the massive weight disparity between the two. Embiid has about 70 pounds on Claxton, so defending him without fouling will be no easy task.
Notably, the Nets did a pretty good job at limiting Embiid in the most recent matchup between these two teams on Jan. 25. Embiid has just 26 points on 6-of-17 from the field and 13-for-13 from the foul line.
Where the Sixers had success was on the perimeter. Philadelphia attempted 42% of its shots from deep and made 48.6% of their 3-point attempts. Harden and Maxey were teriffic in that one, combining for 50 points on 58% 3-point accuracy.
Ultimately, the 76ers should find it difficult to replicate their 137-point outburst from January against this improved Nets defense.
Brooklyn Nets
The Nets are being trashed throughout the media for collapsing — and perhaps rightfully so — but it is important to recognize that this is still a quality team.
I’m not going to sit here and argue that the Nets are better than they were five days ago, but pretending like this is a bottom-10 team now is just not supported by any objective metrics.
If the Nets roll out Dinwiddie, Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton as their starting five, I wouldn’t be surprised if they ranked near the top-five in defensive rating for the remainder of the season.
Another thing I love about this new-look Nets team is its ability to get up lots of clean catch and shoot 3s. The Nets had a 46.3% 3-point attempt rate (92nd percentile) in their most recent game versus the Chicago Bulls.
Keep in mind that Bridges and Cam Johnson didn’t play in that one, so I would expect their propensity for 3s to increase as these guys are inserted into the lineup.
Any team that can get up that many 3s should be respected, but it’s not like they just have any guys shooting these 3s. This team is loaded with snipers in the starting five and off the bench. I expect Brooklyn's offense to be respectable over the close of this season.
This is a huge advantage in this matchup with the 76ers as the 76ers haven’t exactly been the best 3-point defense over these past few weeks.
Philadelphia ranks 18th in 3-point accuracy and 13th in 3-point attempt rate allowed since the start of the new year.
We saw them allow the Knicks and Celtics to shoot a ton of 3s the last few games so I expect them to continue to struggle against this Nets offense.
76ers vs Nets Pick
It’s always tough to predict a game with so many new players entering a brand-new team but I would actually lean towards the Nets in this spot.
This pick is predicated on Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson being available, but if both of those guys are able to go I would grab the Nets at any plus number you can find.
This Nets team is still very solid and their bench is significantly deeper and more talented than the 76ers bench unit.
As long as the Nets can survive the Harden/Embiid minutes, I expect them to dominate against the 76ers bench unit and win this game outright.
Trust the new-look Nets to defeat an overrated 76ers team and defend the Barclays Center.
Pick: Nets Moneyline (+105) |
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