Clap your hands, everybody!

Stand up and cheer.. for Eric Gordon and Andre Drummond!

The only thing we can do right now is laugh at how the Philadelphia 76ers season will start on Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Sixers are a 3.5-point underdog and +138 on the money line without Joel Embiid and Paul George.

Tyrese Maxey will be on the floor. That’s about all of the superstar power the Sixers will have against Giannis Antetokounmpo and company.


But hey, at least there’s a functional backup center now in place with Drummond, and Gordon is a decent three-point shooter who can fill George’s spot in the starting lineup.

The guys supposed to be the depth players are starters on Wednesday, which means the bench will be thin. Guershon Yabusele, Reggie Jackson, Kyle Lowry. and KJ Martin will probably fill out the rotation. Maybe we see Jared McCain or Ricky Council IV.

The Bucks are dealing with their own injury issues with Khris Middleton out, but Giannis and Damian Lillard will still be on the floor.

Giannis and Maxey are tied for the highest points prop on the board at over/under 28.5. Lillard checks in at over/under 24.5 and Kelly Oubre is the only other player with a point prop above 15 at over/under 17.5.

Maxey’s point prop over is worth a look because he might just take 30+ shots, but I would be hesitant on Giannis because he is dealing with patella tendinitis. Sure, he could go off for 30, and if Drummond is in foul trouble, it could be easy pickings for the Greek superstar, but I would look into Lillard because he took at least 15 shots in every game against the Sixers last season and started the 2023-24 campaign with three 25+ point performances in his first five contests.

Someone else has to score for the Sixers to be competitive and potentially win. Drummond averaged 14.2 points and 12.8 rebounds per game in 39 career matchups with Antetokounmpo.

Everyone knows Drummond is a rebounding machine, but his over/under of 14.5 boards may be too high to touch. His point prop of over/under 11.5 is more palatable, especially if all the defensive attention turns to Maxey.

Oubre averaged 17.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game without Embiid last season. Someone other than Drummond has to rebound at some point, and with no Tobias Harris (thankfully), I’d expect Oubre to be aggressive on the glass. His rebound prop is over/under 5.5.

Gordon is the only other Sixer with props listed as of Noon ET. He sits at over/under 12.5 points and over/under 2.5 threes.

FanDuel has a few boosts to take advantage of on Wednesday. It has a profit boost token for a 3+ leg Same Game Parlay, as well as boosts for a 2+ leg double-double parlay and 2+ leg top scorer parlay.

Drummond is -195 to have a double-double on his own at FD. Houston’s Alperen Sengun, Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley, and Memphis’ Zach Edey (if he gets enough playing time) are the best candidates to partner with Drummond.

I’d look to Maxey for the top points scorer parlay. Maxey is +165 to be the top scorer in this game.  You can take a shot on him and Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas for the boost. Thomas should take 25-30 shots every game this season.

DraftKings is offering a stepped up parlay boost for parlays of four legs or longer, BetMGM has a 20% odds boost token to use on NBA games, bet365 has a 50% SGP boost and ESPN Bet has a 50% parlay or SGP boost available. And if no Embiid and no George scares you off of this game, NJ mobile casino and any new PA online casino are not contingent on the health of a 7’2″, 30-year-old center and 34-year-old veteran wing.