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Tonight we have MLK Day hoops and two of the elites face in Philadelphia as 76ers host James Harden and the Houston Rockets.
Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia have seemingly started to figure it out in recent games with their new big 3 in Butler, Simmons and Embiid. Although they’re coming off a heart breaking loss to OKC 117-115 they’ve played some good ball this week including dismantling Minnesota by 42 and beating a strong Indiana team by 24 on the Road! Now coming into tonight’s game Philadelphia’s stars Embiid and Butler are both questionable on the injury report. Embiid has been dealing with back stiffness the past couple of games, but has played in both of them and played well while Butler has a sore right wrist. Given the magnitude of the game we’ll probably see both players play but it’s best to wait until the official news come out before making any drastic bets.
Injury News:
Joel Embiid – Questionable
Jimmy Butler – Questionable
Markelle Fultz – OUT
Zhaire Smith – OUT
Justin Patton – OUT
Houston Rockets
No Capela, No Paul, No Problem it seems for the Houston Rockets and well when you have James Harden playing the way he is then Houston are definitely still in good hands! Houston are 10-4 since CP3 went out (2-1 since Capela also went out) and why is that? Well James Harden is averaging over 40 points over a 20 game span and 54.3 in the last 3 games! The more players go out, the more Harden has been able to elevate his game to keep his team afloat. The good news for Houston is that Eric Gordon has returned and drilled 30 points in his last game so Harden has at least got one of his main guys back, but even then the rest of the team are role players and a bunch of guys from G-League who are there to fill in for the absentees. Houston could particularly be in big problem if Joel Embiid plays for Philly given how small they are with Capela out. Harden and Gordon will likely have to score HUGE numbers for them to stay within striking distance of the 76ers tonight and that may not even be enough.
Injury News:
Brandon Knight – Questionable
Clint Capela – OUT
Chris Paul – OUT
Betting Stats
Totals
Philadelphia are one of the best total point over covering teams at home at 58.33% (14-10). The total tonight is 233.5 and the closest they’ve been to that at home pre-game this season was against the Wizards when the total was 234.5 and that ended up being an under as Philadelphia won 123-98. Philadelphia are 3-3 in O/U when the total given is in 230s this season.
Houston meanwhile are one of the worst at covering total point overs on the Road this season just at 42.86% (9-1-11). The Rockets haven’t really had a total close to 233.5 that is tonight and it’s only the 2nd time that the total is in 230s for them this season the other time being during early season when the total was 237.5 against the Lakers which ended with an over (239 pts). Houston have been particularly bad at covering overs recently as their last 9 road games only had 2 overs, 1 void and 6 unders. They’re 2-2 in O/U on the road since Chris Paul went down.
Handicaps
Philadelphia are around the middle of the pack when it comes to covering Handicaps at Home this season at 54.16% (13-11). Tonight they’re 4 point favourites. They’ve been 4 point favourite only one other time this season when they beat the Pelicans 121-120 but failed to cover the Handicap.
Rockets have been one of the worst Handicap covering teams on the road just at a measly 38.09% (8-1-12) this season. The closest that Houston have been to being 4 point underdogs was when they were 4.5 point underdogs against Denver which they covered winning the game 109-99. Rockets are 2-4 at covering handicaps as road underdogs. They’re 2-2 at covering handicaps on the Road since CP3 went out.
Recent H2H in Philadelphia
Houston have dominated winning 4 straight in Philadelphia.
The most recent meeting in Philly was last season where Eric Gordon’s last second buzzerbeater earned Houston a 105-104 win. In that game Philadelphia covered their +3 Handicap and total 219.5 points ended up being an under by .5 points.
During the last meeting in Philadelphia, the LIVE betting lines at one point had 76ers as 8.5 favourites and Houston as 5.5 favourites as the highest Handicaps for both teams during that match up.
The highest total pts that was given during that game LIVE was 227.5 points and the lowest fell all the way to 205.5 during that last meeting in Philadelphia.
Match Start – 22nd January 2019 – 1am UK Time
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