Cleveland at Philadelphia
Time: 6 PM CT (NBA TV)
Spread: PHI -4
Total: 224
Odds c/o 5dimes
76ers
The Sixers are tuning up for the first playoff matchup since “The Process” began some five years ago. Philly is currently seeded No. 6 in the East.
Moving up is imperative for Philly, in hopes to avoid a first-round clash with either Toronto or Boston. As tight as the Eastern Conference standings are, Philly can radically improve its draw by closing this season strong, and all indications are that it will do just that. If the playoffs began today, the Sixers would face the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The 76ers have knocked off the Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans, and L.A. Clippers in its past three games, winning all of the games by 13 points or more with an average margin of victory of 14.6 points. Its most recent win was a 112-98 win over the Clippers, as the Sixers had a late run to rally past the new look Clippers.
Joel Embiid had 29 points and tied his career high with 16 rebounds. Ben Simmons had a double-double again with 14 points and 10 assists. Simmons is averaging 7.3 assists per game this season, and over his past 10 games, he has notched 7.7 assists along with 7.1 rebounds and 17.1 points. He has two double-doubles in his last five games and is in a neck-and-neck race with Utah’s Donovan Mitchell for the Rookie of the Year honor. Embiid is recovering from surgery to repair a broken orbital bone, and it is unknown whether he will be ready for the first round of the playoffs.
The Sixers are focused on bigger things than the award (like Embiid’s health and its seeding), especially after Embiid was (perhaps rightfully) snubbed for the award a year ago, mainly because he only played 32 games last season. Embiid has the makings of a true franchise player if he can remain healthy, and thus far this season he has. He has recently been cleared to play in back-to-back games, and the Sixers can also be thankful the postseason has no back-to-backs. Embiid is averaging 23.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.5 blocks/steals per game in 31 minutes a night in his 43 appearances. He will be an All-Star this year in just his second season.
CAVS NOTES:
Much ado about the fate of free-agent-to-be LeBron James: Teams are already posting billboards and beginning their recruiting campaigns, while this season wanes and it could possibly be LeBron’s last in his home state. James got his way at the trade deadline when the Cavs basically restructured its entire team, but the results have been mostly mediocre. It may be the time in James career when he finally realizes that he cannot win without two superstars (like Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh) by his side.
While that is no knock on Kevin Love, James’ Cavs this year are less talent than the teams he played with in Miami, and though he did win a title two years ago, few are expecting a return to the Finals, never mind an improbable win over the stacked Golden State Warriors. It is no fault of James, though, really.
He has played excellent basketball and is still arguably the most dominant offensive force in the league. His stats obviously support that, as he is averaging 27 points, eight rebounds and nine assists per game while posting an extra-worldly PER of 28.0.?Love has been a solid second-fiddle with 17.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, but in order for Cleveland to really contend, he would nearly have to revert to the form he once showed as a Minnesota Timberwolf. The Cavs did make a couple nice additions at the trade deadline by adding former Cavalier legend Larry Nance’s son, Larry Jr., as well as Jordan Clarkson.
The Cavs also parted ways with the declining Wade, sending him back to Miami to finish his career. Perhaps the most clutch additions were those of George Hill and Rodney Hood, but neither has been outstanding since coming to Cleveland. The Cavs now have the odd task of adding so many players and trying to gel and reach form in a matter of a month and a half before the postseason.?One-time MVP Derrick Rose is firmly out of the picture, and perhaps now Cleveland is done adding washed up veterans in hopes to keep LeBron afloat. Maybe the Cavs just let LBJ walk and rebuild their team around Hood and Nance, and whatever lottery picks they obtain with the pick it picked up at the deadline.
To be certain, it would require a near-miracle for James and company to usurp the Warriors’ title hopes, and few are picking Cleveland in any respective series against Toronto or Boston.
