NBA FREE Pick: 529 Philadelphia 76ers @ 530 Cleveland Cavaliers
Rating: 4 Units – Regular Play
Pick: 529 Philadelphia 76ers (-9.5)

Price: -108 / 1.92 on Pinnacle
Write Up:

After a good start of their road trip, PHI lost their L2 games @LAC & @DEN, so I expect them to bring some sense of urgency for this contest. Their loss @LAC was a natural loss (LAC had Paul George available) and in the last game @DEN, it was a mix of a bad spot combined with a great performance from the Nuggets.

“I think guys were a little shook and tired to start,” Simmons explained. “That also affected the communication. Guys are a little tired, but I just think in that first period, I think they shot like 70-percent from three or something like that in the first quarter. That’s tough — especially when they got up 20 points early. It’s tough. They really punched us and we really didn’t fight back until that third quarter.”

For today, I expect them to take care of business against a Cavaliers team that is missing their 2 best frontcourt players: Larry Nance & Jarrett Allen. I took UTA-16 against the Cavaliers in their last game for an easy winner. CLE scored 75 points and note that Garland & Sexton didn’t have a putrid offensive game! Both combined to hit 16-34 FG! Larry Nance is likely their best playmaker and without him, the Cavaliers have 2 small guards doing turns offensively with the ball.

I expect PHI to punish CLE’s small perimeter w/ Simmons & Tobias Harris while their defense will shut down CLE bad offense without their best rim protectors.