Philadelphia 76ers vs Miami Heat betting tips and predictions for Thursday’s NBA game on TNT. It’s the 3rd and final meeting between the 76ers and Heat as they lock horns once again at Wells Fargo Center. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Philadelphia 76ers
Joel Embiid has pretty much wrapped up the MVP award after another dominant performance as he dropped 52 points on the Boston Celtics, with his Sixers coming out on top 103-101 on Tuesday. Embiid went an unreal 20-for-25 from the field in what was one of the most efficient 50 point games in NBA history.
The win alleviated some of the pressure off the Sixers who were able to finally beat Boston, the two teams are on course to meet in the Eastern Conference semi-finals so it was important for Philly not to get swept in the regular season series. Against Miami the season series is tied at 1-1, with each team winning a road game. The Sixers enter as 4-point favorites, the pressure isn’t as high anymore on either side as they’re both set in their playoff seeding at the moment.
Miami Heat
With back-to-back wins over Dallas and Detroit, the Heat remained in the running for the 6th seed with 3 games remaining. The difference between them and the Nets is 1.5 games though, so it would take a major Brooklyn collapse in order for them to move up the standings. On the road the Heat are just 1-5 ATS in their last 6 trips, but what makes tonight’s game even more difficult is the status of Bam Adebayo who is questionable with a quad injury.
Not having your starting center will be a huge problem when going up against the likely MVP in Joel Embiid. Winning in Philadelphia has been a tough task for Miami, they’ve done it just 5 times in their last 18 visits, so the odds are against them here. They’re 4-point underdogs, which is understandable for a team that is just 16-23 SU in away games and has covered the spread in only 15 of those games.
I think it’s time we finally see a home team win a game in this series. The Sixers have mathematically wrapped up the 3rd seed, but Embiid will still be motivated to play well here as he wants that MVP award so badly. I’ll take the 76ers to cover.
Philadelphia 76ers vs Miami Heat Predictions & Odds
It’s been a relatively low scoring affair whenever these two teams have met over the past 10 games with 3 of those games finishing under the total and just an average of 203.1 points per game scored. I am not expecting a change of those trends tonight, the Sixers have gone under in 4 of 5 games overall, plus in 5 of 7 vs Eastern Conference opponents and in 6 of 8 vs Southeast Division teams.
The Heat play one of the slowest tempos in the entire NBA averaging just 98.5 possessions a game. Philadelphia isn’t all that much faster at just 99 possessions, and with both teams ranking in the top 10 in defensive efficiency there’s a good chance we’ll see quite a few defensive moves here. I’ll be backing the under.
