Philadelphia 76ers AT Charlotte Bobcats
Jan 20, 2011 at 7 PM EST
Opening Line: Charlotte -4
Current Line: Charlotte -5
Opening Total: 187
Current Total: 188
Opening Moneyline: Cha -215 / Phi +185
Current Moneyline: Cha -220 / Phi +180
Philadelphia just came off a rough loss to Orlando which went into OT and featured two four point plays by the Magic, which sealed the Sixers fate. They’ve now lost six straight on the road and currently stand with a horrid 5-17 record on the road. It won’t get any easier tonight against the Bobcats as they have dropped five straight to the Bobcats on the road.
Sixers forward Andre Iguodala took a hard stance on the road loss to the Magic. “We can’t let (the games) boil down to that, then maybe we’ll get a little more respect down the stretch, with how the game is called sometimes,” Iguodala commented “I don’t know if we earned that respect or not. We play hard every night …we never get it (respect).”
Charlotte is in the playoff hunt, but has dropped four of their last five games. They still are 7-5 though since Paul Silas took over coaching duties, and Silas is pleased. “Gerald (Wallace) was terrific (Tuesday),” Silas told the Sixers’ website . “He was great offensively and defensively. We are also getting more confident as a team. We’re running better and that is helping us get easy baskets.”
Running may prove to be the key against the Sixers, a notoriously tough team in half court sets.
Some betting trends:
Philadelphia is 1-5 SU in their last 6 road games and the total has gone OVER in 8 of their last 12 against the Bobcats. They are 2-4 ATS in their last 6 against Charlotte and the total has gone OVER in 5 of their last 6 road games against the Bobcats. Philly is 0-5 SU in their last 5 road games against Charlotte and 3-8 ATS in their last 11 road games against the Bobcats.
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Charlotte’s last 20 games and the total has gone UNDER in 12 of their last 15 at home. The total has also gone OVER in 8 of the last 12 meetings between the teams and OVER in 5 of the last 6 home games against the Sixers.
Key Matchups:
Andre Iguodala vs Gerald Wallace
When you have two defensive minded players like Iggy and Wallace, it really comes down to who is going to do the little things better. They will likely shut one another down, and neither has a particularly developed offensive game, relying rather on slashing to the hole and drawing fouls or getting easy dunks. Iguodala is having his lowest scoring season since his second year in the league with only 13.9 points per game and his free throw shooting is also far below his career average of 74% (66% this year). Wallace is having a solid season, playing 39 minutes a game and posting numbers slightly under his all-star season of last year. He’s also doing his thing on defense, averaging 1+ blk and 1+ stl per game, showing he has the ability to make a difference on the defensive end even when he is struggling to score.
Jrue Holiday vs D.J. Augustin
Both point guards are having good seasons. Augustin is making Bobcat fans forget the loss of Felton, the former starting point guard who defected to the Knicks in the off season. He’s putting up the best numbers of his career with 14.2 points per game and 6.3 assists per night as well, and his field goal percentage has climbed to a respectable 43% (he was 39% last season). Holiday is putting up very similar numebers with 14.6 points per game and 6.6 assists per game, so whomever gets the upper hand in tonight’s matchup will go a long way towards determining the fate of the game. Holiday had an impressive night in the loss to Orlando last game, going for 16 points, 6 assists, and 8 boards. He has yet to record a triple double this year, but the potential is there. Both point guards are speedy and will have their hands full with one another on defense.
NBA oddsmakers have set the line close for tonight but bettors will be good to know that the Sixers played an overtime game last night, which will probably produce some tired legs in tonight’s game, which along with homecourt advantage should play into the Bobcats’ hands.
