Eastern Conference Rivals

Tonight in Philly, two teams seemingly tied together for the last few seasons will jockey for a chance to stay at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Although everyone trails the Celtics, the rest of the East's elite is bunched up relatively closely. The Sixers are starting to make some noise, having won five straight 👇

• Celtics: 35-14

• Sixers: 30-16 (3.5 GB)

• Bucks: 30-17 (4 GB)

• Nets: 29-17 (4.5 GB)

• Cavs: 29-19 (6 GB)

The winner of tonight's Nets vs. Sixers game could jump as high as second place by tomorrow, with the loser falling to fourth. Obviously, there's still a ton of time left in the season, but as the trade deadline approaches, both squads only have a handful of games left to figure out what pieces they still need. Here's how Vegas expects things to shake out 🤑

Nets vs. Sixers Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Spread: Sixers -5

• Moneyline: Sixers -198 (bet $198, win $100), Nets +166 (bet $100, win $166)

• Over/Under: 225.5

Life Without KD

Despite losing Kevin Durant to a MCL sprain for the foreseeable future, and losing their first four games following his injury, the Nets have now won their last two, in large part due to the heroics of Brooklyn's mercurial point guard, Kyrie Irving 🍿

On Monday, the Nets toppled the reigning champs in a comeback win in San Francisco, featuring a 38-7-9 barrage from Kyrie, including 10 points in the fourth quarter alone 👏 

• Even better, Nets fans got some good news yesterday — the team is planning on reevaluating Durant in two weeks, with hopes to have him back in uniform in advance of February's All-Star break

However, their biggest question-mark remains Ben Simmons - he's shown flashes of his former self as a defender and playmaker, but has yet to score the way he used to. His 14-17 PPG in his first four season was never too impressive, but 7.5 PPG in almost 28 MPG this season is just not good enough 🥴

As for Philly, with five straight dubs, the Sixers have the longest active winning streak in the NBA, one they will look to extend tonight. However, they might have to do it without their big fella, since Joel Embiid is listed as day-to-day with a foot injury. Still, they won their last game without him (or Harden), and a certain third-year guard looks to be making a leap 📈

Averaging a career high in scoring (21.1 PPG), the Sixers' winning streak likely comes from Maxey and De'Anthony Melton's flip-flop from the starting unit to the bench. Tyrese has given the Sixers' second unit a huge boost of offensive firepower, cooking other teams' backups at will. Melton has also improved the starting group's perimeter defense as one of the most underrated, pesky on-ball defenders in basketball 🔒

• Most important though...if Embiid does suit up, it'll be the first time he'll get to play against Ben Simmons after spending more than four seasons together in Philly 👀

However, with Embiid's status tonight yet to be determined, it's hard to know Doc Rivers will handle things. Regardless of whether Maxey starts or is the first man off the bench, Sixers fans have to be happy he's found such a solid rhythm passing the midway point of the season 🕺

For My Parlay Gurus

The Sixers are rolling with or without Embiid, and I think the Harden-Maxey pairing probably makes them a safer bet than Kyrie's Nets without KD. There's a full slate of games on tonight, so I'm going to throw in the Thunder at home vs. the Hawks. Take a look 👇

• Sixers -5 vs. Nets: -110

• Thunder +2 vs. Hawks: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $264 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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