The NBA Playoffs are upon us and as the action heats up on the hardwood so, too, does the action at the best  NJ online sportsbooks. Let’s take a look at the Sixers-Nets odds and betting predictions.

Odds

Here’s a look at the current Sixers-Nets odds. Philadelphia enters both not only Game 1 but also the entire series as overwhelming favorites to advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs:

Sportsbook G1Spread G1 Moneyline Series Winner
DraftKings PHI -8 PHI -335 -835
FanDuel PHI -7.5 PHI -330 -650
PointsBet PHI -7.5 N/A -501

Pro tip: If you want to bet on the Sixers to win the series, do so at PointsBet with the considerable value price of -501 and get a $50 free bet with no deposit and up to $1,000 in risk free bets with code BROADLINES.

Over at FanDuel Sportsbook, you can grab a decent deal on the Game 1 moneyline while also taking advantage of their NBA Parlay Insurance offer. Place a bet of 4+ legs on any game during the playoffs at moneyline odds of -200 or greater. If you hit all but one of the bets, FanDuel will help ease to pain by offering a cash refund of up to $25.

UPDATE:

Joel Embiid doesn’t know if he’ll play and it sounds like he’ll be a game-time decision.

 

Sixers-Nets analysis

There’s a lot of talk about with first-time All Star D’Angelo Russell heading into this series, but Spencer Dinwiddie has actually done more damage to the Sixers this year. Dinwiddie will come off the bench, which gives him better matchup opportunities against the Sixers’ depth – or lack thereof – players depending, of course, on what Brett Brown does with his rotation in round one.

Regular season stats:

  • Russell (4 games): 21 points on 19.5 shots, 28.6% from three, 7.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds
  • Dinwiddie (4 games): 23.8 points on 13 shots, 61.1% from three, 5.5 assists, 2 rebounds

Dinwiddie has been the more efficient player. In December, he came off the bench to score a career-high 39 points in a 127-124 win at Wells Fargo Center. He scored 31 off the bench in November, which was the game where Russell also went for 38 as a starter.

For further context, this is how the Sixers matched up against Dinwiddie in the most recent outing, a game in which the Nets were on game seven of a seven-game road trip:

sixers net matchup

(via NBA stats)

You see Jimmy Butler had him on 18 possessions, while Ben Simmons and Mike Scott combined for 19. The rest was spread out somewhat evenly, with Tobias Harris and T.J. McConnell and JJ Redick sharing some reps.

And with Russell in the starting lineup, he saw a lot more of Simmons defending him:

sixers nets d'angelo

Something to think about when considering which guards are the biggest threat to the Sixers. Dinwiddie has done more damage on fewer shots, while Russell is usually hot or cold against Philly.

There’s also been a ton of talk about the Sixers’ starting unit, and the lack of time they’ve played together. That’s a concern, sure, but those 10 games have shown numerous positives:

  • they were 8-2 in those games
  • +17.6 net rating
  • 161 total minutes played together

So no, it’s not a big sample size, but the results were excellent.

 

Betting trends

From a betting perspective, there are two things we definitively know right now.

The Sixers are an overwhelming series favorite to beat the Nets and advance to the second round.

The Sixers are a heavy-favorite Saturday afternoon.

It’s hard to project out game-by-game ATS winners because injuries – Game 1 was briefly off the board at PointsBet – series standings, and motivation are each evolving factors, but we can still evaluate some betting trends before the Game 1 tipoff.

Let’s first start with each team’s overall ATS performance. The Sixers weren’t a particularly good bet ATS bet this season, going only 38-44, which was the NBA’s eighth-worst mark. The Nets, on the other hand, were a solid spread performer, compiling a 45-37 ATS, which was the league’s eight-best record.

The Sixers also underperformed as a favorite, going 27-31 ATS, whereas the Nets were a respectable 16-12 ATS in the same role. It remains to be seen if the Nets will be favored in any game during this season, but…the more you know, I guess. More pertinent is the Sixers’ rather average 20-19 ATS performance as a home favorite and the Nets’ solid 25-16 ATS record on the road and 20-15 ATS mark as a road underdog.

Of course, these overall team performance trends don’t tell the entire story, so let’s go a little bit deeper. As for how the two teams performed head-to-head, the Nets had a 3-1 edge in covers, going 1-1 ATS on the road and 2-0 ATS at home.

The Sixers enter Game 1 between a 7 to 8-point favorite depending upon where you’re shopping, and it’s not a stretch to think a similar line will be set for Game 2. So let’s look at how each team has performed this season with similar lines.

The Sixers are 15-9 ATS when favored by at least 7 points, 10-4 ATS when favored between exactly 7 and 10 points, and an impressive 6-2 ATS when favored in the same range at the Wells Fargo Center.

Meanwhile, a closer looks reveals the Nets’ impressive underdog performance isn’t quite as good in this specific line range. Brooklyn is 7-9 ATS when a dog of 7 points or more and only 5-8 ATS when a dog of at least 7 points on the road.

Since this is the postseason, the level of competition is an important contextual factor, so it’s worth noting Brooklyn is 24-17 ATS against teams .500 or better, 19-14 ATS against such teams as an underdog, and 11-8 ATS as a road dog. The Sixers were only 13-13 ATS when playing teams. 500 or better as a favorite, but when the spread was 7 points or more, they were 6-2 ATS. That’s strong.

In terms of the No. 3/No. 6 matchup, there’s not an overwhelming trend here, but No. 3 seeds favored by at least 7 points are 24-20 ATS in first round games since 2005.

Finally, I take the Sixers’ overall 82-game performance this season with a grain of salt because the five probable starters for tomorrow’s game only took the court together 10 times this season. When Jimmy Butler, J.J. Redick, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris start together, the Sixers are 8-2 SU and 6-4 ATS this season with the aforementioned +17.6 net rating.

There’s some more to consider with money and some curious lines in this series, which we’ll get to in a post a little bit later.

 

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