Philadelphia 76ers vs Cleveland Cavaliers betting tips and predictions for Wednesday’s NBA game on ESPN. One win streak will have to end tonight as the Sixers who have won 3 in a row host the Cavaliers who are on a 7-game win streak. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Philadelphia 76ers
Revenge will be on the mind of the Philadelphia 76ers in this game as they try to even the regular season series vs Cleveland who beat them 113-85 earlier in the season. Joel Embiid had only 19 points in that game, one of his lowest outputs of the entire season, Philly shot just 41% from the field and 23% from three.
Since then they’ve dramatically improved their position in the standings, but with just 1 game between these two teams tonight’s game is a big one. Philadelphia has gone 12-3 SU in their last 15 overall, plus they’ve won 17 of 20 at home. Against the Cavs they have 5 wins in 6 games at Wells Fargo Center and their only injury worry here is Joel Embiid who is bothered by his lingering foot issues, but he has played quite a few games already this season with that so I’m expecting him to suit up.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Donovan Mitchell getting out of his slump is exactly what the Cavaliers have needed. They’ve now won 7 games in a row, mainly because of their defense. Mitchell is coming off a 41-point eruption in the win over Houston, he’s now averaging 33.3 points per game in his last 3 games. Although they’ve won just once in 6 games vs Philly, they’ve actually done well against the spread covering in 6 of the last 9 meetings.
There are no significant injuries to report at the moment, if they can maintain that level of health they’ll be one of the 4 contending teams in the playoffs. Just like Philly, the Cavs are one of those rare teams that rank in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, so we’re looking at an evenly matched game here.
Both Harden and Embiid are in fine form, losing that first meeting by 28 points wasn’t a good look for them, I think they’ll be extra motivated to do better here. Cleveland has been solid lately, but they still have a losing road record. I’m backing Philly to cover the spread here.
Philadelphia 76ers vs Cleveland Cavaliers Predictions & Odds
If I had to use one word to describe this game it would definitely be “defense”. These two teams rank 1st and 6th in defensive efficiency, allowing just 106.8 and 109.1 points per 100 possessions. Because of this the oddsmakers have set the projected total to just 216.5 points here, 198 points were scored in the first game played in Cleveland. 6 of the last 10 head-to-head have gone under, with an average of just 216.8 points scored.
Pace wise the Cavs average the least number of possessions per game in the NBA, while Philly is only 5 spots ahead of them in 25th, so a slower tempo game is to be expected here. With the under cashing in 9 of 13 games for Cleveland, plus them being 12-17 on the O/U on the road I think backing the under is the way to go here.
