The Eastern Conference top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers already have lost home-court advantage in their semifinal series vs. the Atlanta Hawks and try to avoid a 0-2 hole on Tuesday. Which way to lean at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks?
Tuesday, June 8, 2021 – 07:30 PM EDT at Wells Fargo Center
I don’t think the winner of this series can beat either the Brooklyn Nets or Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals barring injury. Even though Atlanta leads Philadelphia 1-0 with a big upset road win Sunday in Game 1, the Sixers are -132 favorites on the series line at BMR’s top-rated books and the Hawks +112.
The favored series result on the NBA futures odds is Philadelphia in seven at +300 (that’s probably where I’m leaning at the moment) and the two long shots are Philly in five and an Atlanta sweep both at +850. On the exact number of games, six is the +165 leader and a Hawks sweep at +850. To win the East, the Sixers are +600 and Hawks +900 on the NBA odds.
Should the Sixers be upset again, this could be their final home game of the season with Game 3 in Atlanta on Friday and Game 4 next Monday. Philadelphia hasn’t been to the East Finals since 2001. Atlanta hasn’t 2015 when it was swept by the LeBron James-led Cavaliers.
Trae Young already was a star in this league even though he was a major All-Star snub this year. He’s taking things to a new level in these playoffs, averaging 30.2 points and 9.8 assists. He had 35 points and 10 assists in the 128-124 upset in Game 1.
Young became the first player in Hawks franchise history to have 35+ points and 10+ assists in a playoff game and the second player in NBA history to score at least 30 points in each of his four career playoff road games. The other was a guy named Lew Alcindor.
John Collins added 21 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic also 21 in the opener. Starting small forward De’Andre Hunter was a surprise scratch with right knee soreness. That was an issue during the regular season, too, but he played in every game of the first round vs. the Knicks.
Solomon Hill started for him Sunday and had six points and three rebounds in 25 minutes. Hunter is game-time decision for Tuesday. He’s arguably the team’s best all-around player when healthy because he does everything well. Young is stellar on offense, for example, but not good whatsoever on defense.
It wasn’t such a shock that Atlanta won, but it sure was that the Hawks led by as many as 26. Still, not a single starter had a positive plus/minus rating. Young, for example, was a minus-11. Every bench player, meanwhile, was at least plus-8. That’s really where Atlanta won the game.
The Hawks are 4-0 ATS on NBA picks in their past four games.
I’m glad I didn’t bet on Game 1 of this series. I didn’t touch the game personally because 76ers star Joel Embiid was a game-time decision with the slightly torn meniscus suffered in Game 4 of the first round vs. Washington. He missed Game 5. When the team announced Embiid would play, I would have guessed Philly would have won.
Embiid certainly did his part with 39 points on 12-for-21 shooting, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. He could be seen grimacing at times, and it’s clear that knee probably won’t be 100 percent again this season.
"Playing on a torn meniscus is not easy," Embiid said. "All I got to do is keep managing it. Do my best. Get as much treatment as I can. Try to manage it to make sure that it doesn’t swell up too much. Obviously, the pain is going to be there. But it’s all about managing it, doing whatever it takes to win.”
In the regular season, the 76ers outscored teams by 405 points with Embiid on the court. They were outscored by three points with him off the court. Philly outscored Atlanta by 13 with Embiid on the court in Game 1, and in fact every Sixers starter had a positive rating. Tobias Harris continued his excellent postseason with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Seth Curry had 21 points, and Ben Simmons 17 points and 10 assists. The problem was the bench.
Look for Simmons, a Defensive Player of the Year finalist, to guard Young much more. Coach Doc Rivers started with Danny Green on Young and that backfired. The Sixers sent multiple defenders at Young 15 times in the second half on Sunday, and Young attempted only one field goal in those 15 instances.
Young had 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting in the second half overall, and Simmons has said he wants the challenge of more time on Young: “It was way too late. We weren’t physical or aggressive enough. I started the second half on him and used my size.
I feel like that disrupted him a little bit, but we got to get started like that. From the first quarter to the last. We waited way too long.”
I would definitely shop around on this spread; BookMaker is currently the only site giving the Hawks 5.5 points and every half-point could matter.
I would think Philly wins this game, but what if Embiid has to leave injured? And it certainly could be very close regardless. The Sixers are 3-9-1 ATS in their last 13 games vs. teams with a winning straight up record.
NBA Pick: Hawks at +5.5 (-110) with BookMaker (visit our BookMaker Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.