Joel Embiid and his 76ers have come under a lot of criticism following the team’s decision to rest the big man in Saturday’s 111-105 loss at Denver. Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris also sat out the game with injuries, Embiid has not played in Denver since 2019 and many analysts are saying he is ducking Nikola Jokic on his home turf. Whether or not that is the case, we’ll find out as soon as tonight’s game in Portland where the Sixers are playing a much inferior Blazers team. Philly dominated the first meeting of the season 126-98, tonight’s game is another opportunity to post great numbers for Embiid and to grab an important road win against a vastly inferior opponent. Philadelphia is 4-1 SU/ATS in the last 5 games head-to-head.
Following a 1-3 SU road trip, the Blazers returned home and played the Chicago Bulls last night, losing 104-96. That’s now 2 games in a row for the Chauncey Billups led team in which they’ve failed to score more than 100 points, which is very concerning when you have the reigning MVP coming to town. The Blazers are breaking all kinds of negative records on offense this season, this team just isn’t equipped with enough talent to score the basketball at a high level. They’re dead last in offensive rating (107.8 points per 100 possessions) and are also posting the 3rd worst Net Rating in the NBA at -9.1 points. They’ve won only 3 times in their last 10 games vs Atlantic Division opponents, while in January they’re just 4-11 SU over their last 15 outings. The one advantage they have coming into tonight’s game is health, with only Shaedon Sharpe being a notable name on the injury report.
