Washington Wizards vs. Philadelphia 76ers Game 1 Prediction, Playoff Odds
The first of four NBA playoff games on Sunday is from the Eastern Conference, as the eighth-seeded Washington Wizards visit the No. 1 Philadelphia 76ers, who opened as 7.5-point favourites to win on the NBA odds for Game 1 of their best-of-seven series.
Wizards vs. 76ers NBA Playoff Odds
Philadelphia might be as healthy as they have been all season, not having played since a meaningless win over Orlando last Sunday. Coach Doc Rivers rested all of his starters in that game. The Sixers went 49-23 overall and 29-7 at home, to finish one spot ahead of the Brooklyn Nets for the East’s best record.
Philly will have home-court advantage throughout the East playoffs and they are +300 to win the conference – Brooklyn is the +100 favourite. Those two teams can’t meet until the conference finals. If the Sixers reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2001, the only teams they would not have home-court advantage against would be Utah and Phoenix.
Washington had to earn the No. 8 seed with a 142-115 home destruction over Indiana on Thursday, but they will at least get two days off ahead of this game. Plus, Thursday’s game was such a blowout that no key Wizards’ players had to play major minutes.
The 76ers were 3-0 vs. the Wizards this season, although two of the games were very early on and the last was March 22 when Washington was still struggling badly. The Wizards are 5-2 against the spread in the past seven meetings. The over is 7-2 in the previous nine in Philadelphia.
Washington Wizards
No question that Washington has the backcourt edge in this series with triple-double king Russell Westbrook and the No. 2 scorer in the NBA in Bradley Beal. Neither looked good in Tuesday’s loss in Boston but both were great Thursday in the rout of the Pacers as Westbrook had 18 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds, while Beal had 25 points.
The problem is that Beal is not moving great, at less than 100 per cent health with a hamstring injury. The Wizards also have no one to deal with Sixers star Joel Embiid – not that many teams do. Former Raptor Alex Len starts at centre these days for Washington, but largely as a place-holder. The Wizards are likely to play small-ball and try and push the pace as that’s their only chance. Washington is 8-1-1 ATS in its past 10 road games.
Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers are led by centre Joel Embiid, who likely will finish second in the NBA MVP voting behind fellow centre Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. Basketball Reference ranked Jokic as the No. 1 player in the league this season with a player efficiency rating of 31.3 and Embiid second at 30.3 – the average is 15. Embiid averaged 28.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks while also playing stellar defence. In addition to being named to the All-NBA team, he will also be named to the All-Defensive Team.
The one worry with Embiid is injuries. If he goes down, the Sixers go down with him. Ben Simmons (14.3, 7.2 rpg, 6.9 apg) is a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year (Utah’s Rudy Gobert will likely win it) and is a fantastic talent, but he can’t shoot jumpers. Perimeter shooting is going to make or break this team – three-point accuracy from former Raptor Danny Green will be important. This writer believes the Sixers can/will beat every East team, except a healthy Nets squad. Philadelphia is 6-1-1 ATS in its past eight at home.
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