Tip-off: 0105, 21/02/2020
Stadium: Wells Fargo Center
TV: Sky Sports
The NBA season gets back under way after an emotional and entertaining All-Star Weekend in Chicago, as Philadelphia 76ers host Brooklyn Nets.
Team LeBron edged out Team Giannis 157-155 in the revamped All-Star Game, which included Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
The 76ers have the best home record in the NBA, winning 25 of their 27 games at the Wells Fargo Center, and it is hard to see Brooklyn coming away with a victory, especially with Kyrie Irving (shoulder) joining Kevin Durant (knee) on the sidelines.
Philadelphia have won 10 of their last 13 home matches against Brooklyn, with the last five coming by a margin of over 10 points.
The hosts picked up their form after a minor blip before the break and we fancy them to run away with another double-digit victory at 11/10 for our first 76ers vs Nets prediction.
A Look At Philadelphia 76ers’ Betting Odds
Philadelphia were considered Eastern Conference title contenders at the start of the campaign but a run of four successive road-trip defeats earlier this month saw them slip away from the coat-tails of runaway leaders Milwaukee Bucks.
Their hopes now lie in aiming for a home play-off tie, but they are currently sat in fifth place, despite winning their last three games.
The 76ers have built a solid team, with two All-Star players in Embiid and Simmons leading the way.
They have also strengthened their depth with the additions of Al Horford, Raul Neto and Alec Burks, while Tobias Harris joined last season from Los Angeles Clippers and has improved his numbers during a first full campaign in Philadelphia.
Harris averages 18.2 points, 2.9 assists and 32.6 per cent of this three-point efforts in 27 games for the 76ers, but has increased this to 19.0, 3.0 and 36.3 per cent respectively in an ever-present campaign.
His rebounds have dropped from 7.9 during an 82-game season last year to 6.7 this campaign, although he did record 12 boards against his former club last time out.
Harris has registered six or more rebounds in eight of his last 10 matches and 76ers vs Nets odds.
A Look At Brooklyn Nets’ Betting Odds
The Nets have bounced back into play-off contention after their pre-season expectations of competing for the Eastern Conference were extinguished pretty quickly.
The arrival of good friends Durant – a two-time NBA champion – and star Irving looked set to bring success to Brooklyn, but both are sidelined with injuries, with the former yet to make his debut.
However, they were outside the play-off picture completely when a run of just two wins from 14 games over the New Year period saw Brooklyn slip down the standings.
A recent upturn in results (6-2) has pushed the Nets back up to seventh in the East, thanks to the efforts of Spencer Dinwiddie and Taurean Prince.
Dinwiddie has blitzed his career averages this season, improving his points per game from 12.7 to 21.0, rebounds from 2.7 to 3.5 and increasing his play-making skills with 6.6 assists per match compared to 4.9.
Prince is another consistent performer since joining Brooklyn from Atlanta Hawks in the off-season, with the small forward upping his rebounds to 6.2 per game from 4.3.
He has hit 12 or more points in seven of his last 10 games and we fancy the 25-year-old to pour in over 11.5 once again at 18/25 to wrap up our 76ers vs Nets betting tips.
Additional stats
Last result:
76ERS 110-103 LA Clippers
NETS 101-91 Toronto
Head-to-head: Nets 111-117 76ers, 76ers 117-106 Nets, Nets 109-89 76ers, 76ers 122-100 Nets
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