Filip Tomic
Show Bio
We have a huge Eastern Conference showdown tonight in the NBA as the Philadelphia 76ers travel to Atlanta to take on the Hawks in search of their 4th road win in a row. Watch the game live from 7.30 pm ET on NBA TV, and I have prepared a Same Game Parlay — which you can see below.
Don’t forget to check out our NBA predictions for picks on the side and total for Thursday’s 4-game slate.
Let’s dive into the 76ers vs Hawks match-up now.
Philadelphia 76ers ML (-102)
Joel Embiid to score 35+ points (+270)
Tyrese Maxey to record 6+ assists (-122)
Parlay odds: +912
Philadelphia 76ers ML over Atlanta Hawks (-102)
With an extra day of rest the 76ers are in a solid position to win once again on the road. Atlanta just lost at home by the Utah Jazz and that was with Trae Young returning to the lineup. The Hawks normally play at their best inside State Farm Arena, but against the 76ers they lost their last home game.
Philadelphia has owned the head-to-head meetings with 4 wins in the last 5 played, and it is a much better defensive team with Harden being out of the lineup. In their last 2 they have held Phoenix to just 88 points and the Knicks to only 106 before that. Young is under a lot of criticism right now, as he is shooting under 38% from the field while taking a large volume of shots — which is hurting his team. He will be tightly contested by the likes of Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris and even P.J. Tucker for stretches. Philly has the advantage on the inside with Joel Embiid, I think that will be enough for them to scrape out a win here.
Joel Embiid to score 35+ points (+270)
No Harden means that someone else will have to pick up the slack offensively in his absence. Although he appears to be past his prime, the Beard still produces 22 points per game for the 76ers. I think we will see an increase in production across the board for the Philly starters, with Embiid being the focal point of the offense. He is averaging 28.3 points per game in the last 10 against Atlanta, and the Hawks’ roster isn’t exactly built to take on a physical presence like him on the inside.
Atlanta currently ranks just 24th in the NBA, giving up 52.2 points per game inside the paint — with that number going up to 54.3 per game at State Farm Arena. But Embiid is much more than just a big man who dominates on the inside. He can also hurt you from the 3-point line; he has drained at least 1 three in all but 1 game this season. In his last 3 games he has gone over 30 twice. With Clint Capela guarding him, I think Embiid is destined for a big output.
Thursday’s 3-leg NBA mega parlay is available at +1074 odds!
Tyrese Maxey to record 6+ assists (-122)
I have mentioned the Harden absence already and nobody has benefited from that injury more than Maxey, who has now taken over the point-guard duties for this team. It hasn’t been an easy transition for him, as he is a shoot-first type of point-guard — but as we saw in the Suns game when he gets his teammates involved the 76ers are a much better team. He has recorded at least 6 dimes in 2 games in a row and for the month of November he is averaging 5.7 per game. Atlanta just allowed Utah to have 27 assists against them last night, and that seems to be the weakness of this team at the moment. Maxey has the speed advantage in his matchup with Young and he should be able to get to 6 assists running the show for Philadelphia.
Pickswise is the home of free NBA Picks and NBA Predictions. Check out the latest NBA Prop Bets and NBA Parlays as well as NBA Best Bets from our NBA experts.
