The Philadelphia 76ers close their run of NBA Cup games on Tuesday night as a 4.5-point favorite against the Charlotte Hornets.

The run itself was over before it even started, but Tuesday’s game is more about building some sort of foundation with Paul George and Tyrese Maxey on the floor so wins can start to be stacked together.

Both teams have lengthy injury reports, and Joel Embiid and LaMelo Ball will not be on the floor in Charlotte.

Without the two superstars, the player prop market is a little more advantageous to look at because each player fills up the stat sheet when they do play. For example, Ball averaged 31.1 points, 6.9 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game before going down with a calf strain.

Ball had 38 points, eight assists and four rebounds in the Sixers’ 107-105 win over the Hornets earlier in the season. The Sixers played that game without Embiid and Andre Drummond, who is out tonight, only played 24 minutes. So at least we have an idea of what the Sixers will do in their current form against Charlotte.


I’d assume the Sixers roll out George and Maxey with Kelly Oubre Jr., Guershon Yabusele, and Caleb Martin with Jared McCain the first player off the bench. Martin is listed as probable and his props have been posted all day, a sign he will play.

The one player I’m fascinated with, particularly in a matchup against a Charlotte team with one healthy center, is Adem Bona. I doubt we see his props listed at all, or if that happens, it’ll be right before tipoff. Bona played 20 minutes against Detroit, and while he recorded just four points and five rebounds, the matchup suits him because the Hornets have been playing small ball for the last few weeks with multiple centers down.

As for the stars, I think we see Maxey, McCain, and George take a bulk of the shots. They took 43 of the 85 shots on Sunday. Oubre was the only Sixer outside of Maxey and George to have double-digit field-goal attempts.

Maxey’s point prop sits at over/under 25.5, George is over/under 17.5 points and McCain is at over/under 16.5 points. I’d consider looking into Oubre at over/under 11.5, because yes, he’s playing his former team, and he’s still attempting a high number of field goals.

Oubre’s rebounds are worth a look as well. He’s had at least five rebounds in each of his last six games. The over on his rebound prop of 5.5 sits at plus-money on FanDuel.

Yabusele is the other Sixers target for rebounds. He’s had 11, 6, 7, and 8 boards in his last four games and his rebound prop sits at over/under 6.5.

From a Sixers-only perspective, I’d look into Yabusele 6+ rebounds, Oubre 4+ rebounds and Maxey 20+ points, which gets you just over plus-money in a Same Game Parlay. You could use one of DraftKings’ NBA Cup profit boosts for that, or go up a rung with Maxey 20+ points, Oubre 6+ rebounds and Yabusele at 6+ or 8+ rebounds.

If you want to add Hornets players, I’d look at Brandon Miller points. It would be a surprise if he didn’t take 20 shots. He has seven straight 20+ point performances. Vasilije Micic has 13 assists in two games as the starter in place of Ball. I would mix in his assists as well.

A SGP of Maxey & Miller 20+ points, Oubre & Yabusele 6+ rebounds and Micic 6+ assists is worth some coin at +650. Alternately, if the injury situation creates too much uncertainty, it might be a night for online slot games and online casinos instead.