Philadelphia 76ers AT New Jersey Nets
December 14th, 2010 at 7:00 PM EST
Opening Point Spread:  Philadelphia -1
Current Point Spread:  Philadelphia -1
Opening Total: 185
Current Total:  187
Opening Moneyline:  Philadelphia -118 / New Jersey -102
Current Moneyline:  Philadelphia -115 / New Jersey +101

Philadelphia, despite an 8-15 record, has been playing well recently, having won 5 of their last 10 games, and six of their last eight, including losing to Eastern Conference powerhouse Boston by only one point.

“We just trying to find a good rhythm,” Iguodala said after Sunday’s 88-70 victory over New Orleans. “The guys are starting to believe in themselves. As long as we continue to play the right style of basketball, we’ll have success.”

The key for Philadelphia’s success has been their outstandnig defense.  In their last seven games they have allowed only 88.3 points per game.  It has enabled the Sixers to win their last five games by an average of 16.2.  Also noteworthy is the fact that their point differential is now +0.3, despite having a losing record.

The problem for Philly, however, has been their play on the road.  They have won just 1 out of 11 games on the road and will be travelling to New Jersey for this one.  This works in their favor since New  Jersey isn’t that good at home, or at all for that matter, and are just 4-7 in home games.  Moreover, New Jersey has lost 7 straight games and after looking to be much better than last year, clearly they are not.

The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philly’s last 5 road games, and it has gone UNDER in 9 of Philadelphia’s last 15 games total.  The total also has gone UNDER in 5 of Philly’s last 6 games in New Jersey.  The total has also gone UNDER in 6 of New Jersey’s last 9 games at home.

NBA Picks ATS:  Philadelphia is 15-7-1 ATS this year and 6-4-1 ATS on the road.  New Jersey is 12-12 ATS and 605 ATS at home.

Some key matchups for tonight’s game:

Jrue Holiday vs. Devin Harris

This may be the key matchup overall between the teams, as both have good point guards capable of scoring a lot and also getting others involved.  Holiday enters tonight’s game averaging 13.3 points per game and 6.8 assists per contest.  Last game against the Nets on November 27th, he had a huge night scoring 20 and dishing out 13 assists in a decisive 16 point win for the Sixers.  Harris also had a pretty big night that game, going for 19 points and 6 assists.  Harris has had decent games in recent times (excluding the loss to Dallas where he only played 9 minutes due to injury), going for 17 ppg and 11.5 assists per game over the last two.  Holiday will attempt to use his length to control Harris on the perimeter and will also seek to force a lot of jumpshots from the sometimes erratic shooting Harris.  This battle of the point guards will prove crucial to the outcome.

Brook Lopez had a strong outing last game against Philadelphia, but has not had the type of season people expected from him.  He hasn’t been hitting the boards and is averaging an unacceptable 6.3 rebounds per game.  He has, however, picked up his scoring and has scored 24 or more in four of his past six games.  The Sixers don’t really have any good big men to answer Lopez and may sometimes put the undersized Elton Brand on him in the post.  Lopez should have a good game against the Sixers.

Overall, the point guard play and how well the Sixers can counter Lopez will determine the outcome.  The Sixers have been tough defensively but it will take a complete team effort to slow down Lopez since they don’t have the individual defenders to do it.  Philadelphia has been bad on the road, but New Jersey has just been flat out bad.