NBA Wednesday: Greg Frank picks Kings vs Sixers and Pistons vs Hornets — we expect Joel Embiid to score, but enough to cover the spread?
1-0 Tuesday, 34-28-1 overall.
Kings (+9.5) @ Sixers (209)
Pick: Sixers -9.5
This is a steep number, but one we believe worth laying on Wednesday night with the Sixers. Philadelphia played right with Toronto all the way down to the closing minutes on Monday night in a game that Joel Embiid did not score in. While Ben Simmons had 14 assists, he only poured in 10 points. So, in a game that the Sixers got a combined 10 points from their two best players, they led in the fourth quarter on the road against the defending NBA champions. They probably should have won the game, but we’ll look past that for the sake of this handicap. Tobias Harris, Al Horford, and Mike Scott were all in double figures for the Sixers on Monday and Josh Richardson led all scorers with 25 points. Furkan Korkmaz also added nine points off the bench for Philadelphia as well. If the Sixers are getting these kinds of contributions from players not named Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid, then they’re in good shape most nights. Simmons and Embiid aren’t going to combine for just 10 points most nights. The Kings close a four-game road trip on the east coast tonight and covered two of the first three games on the trip. However, the game they didn’t cover was a blowout loss in Brooklyn and that’s how we see tonight going for Sacramento as we’re expecting Embiid and Simmons to score plenty more.
Pistons (-4) @ Hornets (214.5)
Pick: Hornets +4
Since when do the Detroit Pistons lay two possessions on the road? For only the second time this season, the Pistons are favored away from the Motor City. Ironically enough, the first time occurred earlier in November in Charlotte as well. The Pistons closed as four-point chalk in a game against the Hornets and lost 109-106. Neither one of these teams is any good as Charlotte is 2-8 in its last 10 and Detroit has only put three games in the win column in its last 10. It’s probably going to be an ugly game and is one of the least-attractive games on tonight’s NBA card, but the Hornets already proved they can hang with Detroit this month and there has been no line adjustment as the point spread is the same. We think that’s a mistake which means we’re taking the points with the dog that won outright the first time.
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