Philadelphia 76ers vs Portland Trail Blazers betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game at Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia is aiming to win a 4th game in a row, but in their way standing are the Portland Trail Blazers. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers are coming off an impressive win at Minnesota 117-94, in a game in which they were stripped of the services of James Harden. It didn’t make a difference, in fact I would argue they are a better defensive teams when he doesn’t play and that was on full display on Wednesday as they wrapped up their long road trip.
Now they head back home where they’ve won 24 of 34 games and are one of the more reliable teams when it comes to covering the spread at 22-12 ATS. Facing the Blazers has been a bit tricky over the years, the last 10 meetings have produced just 3 wins for Philadelphia, but with the likes of Joel Embiid playing really well and Harden coming back to the line-up, the Sixers are once again heavy favorites.
Portland Trail Blazers
Portland didn’t have the best of times in their last road game, which ended in a 115-93 loss in Boston. Damian Lillard did his best with 27 points and 8 assists, but he alone cannot carry this team on his back against elite teams. As a team the Blazers shot just 36% from the field and 28% from three, that’s just not going to cut it.
Scoring could also be an issue tonight as they face the Sixers who held them to just 95 points back in the first meeting of the season in Portland. There could be some good news on the injury front though as Anfernee Simons has been upgraded to probable here, he will be a game time decision following a long recovery from an ankle sprain. This will be the 5th straight Blazers game that they’re on the road, so far they’ve gone 2-2 SU.
I actually think the Blazers could pull off the upset here, especially if Simons comes back. They can lose by 8 points and still cover the spread. Lillard should have a big night as he goes up against Harden, I think Portland keeps this one somewhat close. Back them plus the extra points.
Philadelphia 76ers vs Portland Trail Blazers Predictions & Odds
Although they had only 93 points in their last game, the Blazers should bounce back against Philadelphia as the Sixers aren’t all that elite on defense when James Harden plays. Prior to the win at Minnesota, they allowed 130+ points in 3 consecutive games, not something you want to hear when you face a team that has Damian Lillard. We’ve seen Dame work wonders on offense this season, despite not having that much help from his teammates.
The O/U numbers over the last 10 meetings also indicate a high scoring game is coming our way, 7 of those have cashed on the over with an average of 229.8 points per game scored. Interestingly enough, the Sixers are 5-0 in favor of the Over in their last 5 Friday home games. They’ve also gone over the total in 8 straight played on this day, regardless of the venue they played at. Good enough reason to back the over if you ask me!
