NBA Pick: 76ers +4.5 (-110) at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
It’s a potential Eastern Conference playoff preview on national TV Wednesday as the Philadelphia 76ers visit the Boston Celtics. Which side of the 4.5-point spread has the best value at the top-rated Pennsylvania betting sites? We also have a total for your NBA picks.
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics
Wednesday, February 8, 2023 – 07:30 PM EST at TD Garden
Meeting No. 2 for 76ers and Celtics
ESPN has a terrific NBA doubleheader on Wednesday with 76ers at Celtics the first game and then Mavericks at Clippers as the nightcap in what will be Kyrie Irving’s Dallas debut – although Luka Doncic will remain out. Neither Philadelphia nor Boston looked into trading for Irving. He already wore out his welcome once with the Celtics, and James Harden forced his way out of Brooklyn last season because of Irving.
This is the second of four regular-season meetings between the teams, although a playoff matchup is quite possible. Boston beat visiting Philadelphia 126-117 on the season’s opening night.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 35 points in the interim head coaching debut of Joe Mazzulla – who will remain in that role all season and probably will get the full-time job after. Harden had 35 points and Joel Embiid had 26 points and 15 rebounds in the loss. The Sixers were outscored 24-2 in fast-break points.
Philly did win one of two regular-season meetings in Boston last year. The 76ers are 7-2 ATS in the past nine meetings.
Embiid Dominating For Philly
Note that the NBA Trade Deadline is Thursday, but it’s unlikely the Sixers make any major moves. Reserve Furkan Korkmaz has requested out. He was fairly useful last season but rarely plays this year. Philly would like to get a veteran backup center for All-Star Joel Embiid. Minnesota’s Naz Reid has been mentioned. He is set for free agency and wouldn’t cost too much to get.
Embiid is listed as questionable tonight but like LeBron James is listed that way pretty much every game and almost always plays unless it’s part of a back-to-back – which this isn’t. Embiid came up short of winning his first MVP last season but has been perhaps better this year in leading the NBA in scoring at 33.4 ppg to go with 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists. Yet he wasn’t named an Eastern Conference All-Star starter.
Philly is looking to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 27 at Washington and Dec. 30 at New Orleans as it was upset 108-97 at the Knicks on Sunday. Embiid had his sixth straight double-double with 31 points and 14 rebounds. He has had at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in six in a row as well, the longest active such streak in the league.
James Harden was held to just 12 points but did have 12 assists and eight rebounds. It was his 22nd game this season with a points-assists double-double. That’s the most by any Sixers player since the 2017-18 campaign and third-most in the NBA this year. Harden isn’t scoring as much of late, though, having surpassed the 20-point mark just twice in his last eight games, averaging 16.6 points.
Other than Embiid, no key players are listed on the injury report for Wednesday. Philly is 4-1 ATS in its past five road games.
Celtics’ Brown Should Play
Following the Nets trading Kyrie Irving to Dallas, speculation immediately centered on whether the Celtics would go try and get Kevin Durant from Brooklyn like it tried this summer with a package built around Jaylen Brown.
The Nets say they aren’t trading KD and that he’s a member of the team after Thursday’s Trade Deadline is -450 at Bovada, followed by Phoenix (+650) and Boston (+1200). I wouldn’t be surprised if Boston pursues Durant this summer again if the C’s come up short of an NBA title again.
Not sure why the Celtics would mess with what’s working currently as they have the NBA’s best record at 38-16, although their lead in the Eastern Conference is down to just one game ahead of red-hot Milwaukee. To earn the top seed, the Celtics are -300 and the Bucks +260. They still have two regular-season games left against one another.
Boston's Win over Detroit
Boston has looked a bit bored as of late and might be looking ahead to the All-Star break as it is just 3-3 in its past six following a 111-99 win in Detroit on Monday. Tatum had 34 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. He was terrible in the first half but scored 18 points in the third quarter.
Jayson Tatum leads the NBA with 47 20-point games and ranks third with 30 30-point performances. He is tied with Nikola Jokic for the fourth-most 30-point double-doubles in the league (12).
Brown missed the game with a non-COVID illness and Sam Hauser made his first start in two seasons and had 15 points. Brown is probable for this one as is center Robert Williams, who has been in and out of the lineup with ankle issues. Williams had the second 15-point, 15-rebound game of his career Monday. Guard Marcus Smart, the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year, remains out.
Derrick White has been starting with Smart out and had maybe his best game of the season Monday with 23 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and just one turnover in 37 minutes. In the seven games Smart has missed, White is averaging 17.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and just 1.1 turnovers while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from 3-point range.
The Picks
The NBA odds really got this number right but since the Sixers COULD win, we have to take the points. The total seems a handful of points too low as simulations I have run have Boston winning something like 116-112.
NBA Pick: 76ers +4.5 (-110) at Bovada
NBA Pick: Over 224 (-110) at 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.
