NBA Preview: The Sixers finally looking to cash in this season from their “Trust the Process” mantra from the last three years.
Boston Celtics (0-2) at Philadelphia 76ers (0-1), Friday, 7:00 p.m. EST
Line: Sixers -1.5. Total 217.5.
“Trust the Process” has got a lot of attention in Philadelphia the past three years. The Philly fans have bought in 100%. Sixers fans made the trip to Washington DC for the opener were chanting “Trust the Process” to the dismay of the home town Wizards fans.
If Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons can stay healthy and more importantly, stay in Philadelphia, then the future certainly is bright for Sixers fans. It remains to be seen how many games Philly can win this season, but one thing is certain: this team will be entertaining.
Embiid has only played 31 games in his first three seasons in Philly, but it is clearly a budding superstar. As some millennials might say, “He has mad skills”.
He also has good numbers. Embiid scored 18 points, grabbed 13 boards and dished out 3 assists in just shy of 27 minutes. The Sixers brass announced a minutes restriction on Embiid earlier in the week of 16 to 20 minutes a game to start the season. The 7-foot, 250-pound center, who can shoot from downtown and dribble the ball like a guard, balked publicly about those restrictions. Obviously Philadelphia’s management listened as they allowed him to play 27 minutes in the opener.
Another player with mad skills and good numbers Philly’s 2016 #1 overall pick Ben Simmons. He sat out the entire 2016-17 after having surgery on his broken foot. Simmons became only the second player in the last 35 years to score at least 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in his first NBA game.
Markelle Fultz, the Sixers 2017 #1 overall pick, came off the bench to score 10 points.
The Celtics are built to win and go deep into the playoffs now. Boston was primed to overtake Cleveland this season with the offseason acquisitions of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. However, Hayward suffered a devastating leg injury 5 minutes into the Celtics opener Tuesday night in Cleveland. He is most likely out for the season.
The Cavaliers took over the game after Hayward was carted off the court. However, the Celtics regrouped at half time and erased an 18-point deficit. Marcus Smart scored 12 points in third quarter, while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum added 8 points apiece in the quarter to lead the Boston comeback. However, the Cavs prevailed in the end with a 102-99 win as Irving missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Boston took three out of four meetings against the Sixers last season, although all four contests were decided by 8 points or less.
Brown is questionable for Friday’s game with a wrist injury.
I have a lean on the Sixers winning this game and sending Boston out of town with an 0-3 start to their season.
NBA Fantasy Information
FanDuel rest a lot of salaries and a few positions with the players going into Friday’s action in an effort to take a lot of value away from players who had a lot of value.
Best values: Terry Rozier (Celtics), PG, $4600. With Hayward out, Rozier is getting more playing time. Rozier scored 27.6 fantasy points in the Cleveland game and 38.4 fantasy points against Milwaukee. Brown is questionable and if he does not play, that provides more playing time for Rozier.
Marcus Smart (Celtics), SG, $6600. Smart has also benefitted from Hayward’s injury with more playing time. Smart scored 37.3 fantasy points in the Cleveland game and 32.4 fantasy points against Milwaukee. Again, if Brown does not pay, then Smart will get more touches.
Ben Simmons (Sixers), PF, $7700. Simmons lost a ton of value with FanDuel jacking his salary up $2100 after just one game. However, he with 45.5 fantasy points in his pro debut, Simmons still has some value even with the $7700 price tag.
Orlando Magic (1-0) at Brooklyn Nets (0-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m. EST
Line: Nets -2. Total 221.
Even though the horrific Hayward leg injury on opening night in Cleveland dominated the sports news cycle for 48 hours, the Nets had a devastating leg injury to deal with in their loss at Indiana Wednesday night.
Jeremy Lin suffered a ruptured patella tendon in his right knee on an awkward fall late in the fourth quarter. Lin will miss the remainder of the season.
Even with Lin, this was going to be a long and arduous season for the Nets. The Pacers scored 140 points against them in their opener on Wednesday. That is not a misprint. This Indiana squad is not exactly the “Showtime Lakers” of the early 1980s. Not even close. Yet the Pacers launched 102 shots, hitting 52% of them. Although Indiana only shot 26.5% from three-point range. That means Indiana shot 64.7% from inside the three-point line. The Pacers also shot 25-for-32 from the free throw line.
Brooklyn did put up 131 points themselves. D’Angelo Russell scored 30 points and dished out 5 assists in his Nets debut. Trevor Booker scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench. Lin finished with 18 points before the injury. Allen Crabbe will take Lin’s spot in the starting lineup. Crabbe had 12 points and 7 boards off the bench.
So the Nets played at ridiculously high rate of pace in their opener (113.3), but they cannot stop anybody on defense. It would not surprise me if the Nets give up over 120 points per game this year. The Sixers scored 133 points against them in a preseason game.
I did not see and Elias Sports Bureau references on SportsCenter Wednesday night about this game being the highest scoring game on an opening night for two teams, but it would not surprise if it is. Vegas better start jacking these totals upwards in a hurry for upcoming Brooklyn games.
It is surprising to me to see Vegas listing the Nets as a small favorites against Orlando on Friday. However, I suspect the reason is due to Aaron Gordon showing up as questionable on the injury report. Gordon scored 14 points and grabbed 9 boards in their opening day win at home against the Miami Heat
NBA Fantasy Information
Best values: Elfrid Payton (Magic), PG, $7500. With Gordon possibly not playing Friday, Payton should get more touches and can improve upon his 38.1 fantasy points against Miami. He had 13 points, 9 assists and 3 steals.
Evan Fournier (Magic), SF, $5600. Again, with Gordon possibly being out Friday, Fournier could mean more touches for Fournier. He had 23 points and 3 assists and ended up with 30.7 fantasy points against the Heat.
Allen Crabbe (Nets), SF, $4600. Another situation where a player is benefitting from an injury. Crabbe is going to start on Friday. He had 28.9 fantasy points off the bench against Indiana on Wednesday.
Note: I will have picks some time on Friday, probably late in the afternoon or early evening.
Edit 6:10 p.m.: Still not ready to bet games, but feeling more comfortable every day. Have not made a second-half bet yet, but if I see a good one tonight, I will bet it.
Sides: (1) Phi, (2) Orl, (3) Pho, (4) Was, (5) Milw, (6) Orl, (7) Port, (8) Sac, (9) Atl, (10) NO
Totals: (1) Sac un, (2) Phi ov, (3) Orl ov, (4) Port ov, (5) Was un, (6) Pho ov, (7) Atl un, (8) Min un, (9) Milw un, (10) NO un.
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