NBA Basketball
2019-02-28 - Philadelphia 76ers at Oklahoma City Thunder
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Thursday 28th February 2019 - Tip Off 8pm
British Time: 1am
Preview
The Philadelphia 76ers (39-22) still have real ambitions of improving their current Number 4 Seed in the Eastern Conference and they will be looking to close on the Indiana Pacers in the coming weeks. Any losing run could potentially see the 76ers knocked out of the top four places in the East though and losing Home Court advantage through the First Round of the Play Offs could be a very difficult position for the team with title aspirations to be in.
They conclude a two game road trip against teams from the Western Conference on Thursday and the 76ers have won three of their last four games despite an injury to Joel Embiid which has left him on the sidelines. It could be a real issue for them in the paint during this game with the backup Boban Marjanovic also expected to sit this one out and that only makes it a bigger mountain for Philadelphia to climb as they look to snap a nineteen game losing run in the series.
A lot of those came at a time when the 76ers were amongst the weaker teams in the NBA, but the Oklahoma City Thunder (38-22) have continued to pile up the wins over them. It has not been the best of times for the Thunder who have dropped back to back games to lose touch with the top two teams in the Western Conference and they are now involved in a fight to hold off the streaking Portland Trail Blazers for the Number 3 Seed in the Western Conference.
Oklahoma City have not won since beating the Utah Jazz in double Overtime last week but they have had a couple of tough schedule spots to deal with. The confidence has not been lost by the team and the Thunder are the kind of roster that can take advantage of any issues Philadelphia are having in the paint.
Both Russell Westbrook and Paul George are continuing to play exceptional basketball for the Thunder and the feeling is that they can exploit what has been a vulnerable Defense run by the 76ers all season. One concern for the Thunder in covering a big spread is their own three point Defense in recent games, but they can dominate the boards in this game and use that to spring out with Westbrook and George leading the way.
Philadelphia still has something to prove when they are facing the best teams in the NBA and they are still working out the best way to get Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler, Embiid and Ben Simmons on the same page. The three starters available for this one are going to be key for Philadelphia to stay competitive, but I can't ignore the fact they are 1-6 against the spread when set as the underdog of 5 points or more this season.
The 76ers are 5-14 against the spread in their last nineteen games facing a team who have won at least 60% of their home games which underlines the point I made about them struggling against better teams.
Oklahoma City have just hit a rough patch with back to back losses, but they can respond against a team they have gotten the better of in recent games. This 76ers roster looks a little different, but the Thunder should have the better chemistry and eventually find a way to pull clear and cover.
Prediction
Lay the points with the home favourite.
The Pick :
Oklahoma City Thunder 116-105 Philadelphia 76ers
