We’ll get a good look at the Philadelphia 76ers in the first few days of the season as they look to get to where their first two opponents had recently been. After opening the 2022-23 campaign against the Eastern Conference champion Celtics they open the home portion of their schedule on Thursday against the 2021 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks. Trusting the process has gotten the Sixers to near the top of the East with five straight playoff appearances, though they failed to reach the conference final in any of them.
The contest between the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers takes place at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 20, 2022, from Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and will air live on TNT. BookMaker.eu will have odds for every game on the Thursday NBA schedule.
NBA Opening Lines at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
Both clubs are again expected to be among the best in the Eastern Conference after finishing with identical 51-31 records a season ago, just two games back of Miami for the top seed. And how close were they? Well, they were tied with the Celtics, who went on to lose in the Finals. So it’s safe to say the clubs are well positioned for a repeat, though there is a fine line. The Bucks had the advantage of winning last season’s series 2-1 with both victories in Philly. Over the previous eight meetings the Bucks are 7-1 SU and 6-2 ATS.
While the Sixers improved their play on the road last season they didn’t have the home court advantage that was so prevalent in past seasons. They finished the year going 28-19 SU and 21-26 ATS in all games at Wells Fargo Center. They were better defensively than Milwaukee in several categories ranking among the top-10 in points allowed and 3-point percentage, but they allowed an average of over 122 points in the last five meetings with the Bucks cashing the OVER in four of those games.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo, arguably the best player in the league, and are primed for another postseason run with a lot of familiar faces back in the rotation. And they should be a hungry group after their title defense ended prematurely with a second round loss to eventual East champ Boston in seven games. It wasn’t so much that the Bucks lost that series rather how they lost it. They dropped the final two games when the offense went cold averaging 88 points in those setbacks.
What we don’t expect from the Bucks are low-scoring games. They’ve had one of the top offenses in the league under Mike Budenholzer and were third in offensive rating last season. However, they will be without two important pieces at the start of the campaign. Many felt they would have beaten Boston in the postseason had Khris Middleton been playing. The second-leading scoring with 20.1 points during last regular season is still on the shelf and top reserve Pat Connaughton will also miss time seriously impacting the offensive production.
Philadelphia 76ers
There is plenty of reason for optimism in the City of Brotherly Love. Not only is Joel Embiid coming off an MVP-caliber season that saw him play a career-best 68 games while averaging the most minutes, he’ll have a sidekick around from the start. The Ben Simmons saga was a huge distraction and landing James Harden in a deal for the former No. 1 overall pick seemed like a coup. Only Harden had his own injury difficulties and played just 21 games in Philly. When healthy those two are a lethal 1-2 punch, but the Sixers have a lot more and I think they’re being overlooked as a possible contender.
The emergence of Tyrese Maxey, who averaged 17.5 points during the regular season and nearly 21 in the playoffs, gives them another piece to go along with a solid foundation that includes Tobias Harris and former Buck P.J. Tucker. They also added former Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell to bolster the second unit.
NBA Odds Pick
The Freak has had some big games against Philly in the past with a little extra for his showdown with Embiid. And the results have favored Giannis. You’re not going to win a division in October, but the head-to-head matchups will be huge when determining seeding come playoff time. And with these clubs most certainly in the mix there is a little extra on the line. Without two important pieces I can see the Bucks struggling in their opener giving the Sixers the needed edge at the betting window.
NBA Odds Prediction: 76ers / UNDER
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