Philadelphia 76ers are currently at 13th position in the East with a poor record 15-27. But in their recent games we could see a huge improvement in their performance, winning 7 out of their last 10 games, which result in one of the best forms in the league. A lot of their success came from home games, as they won 5 consecutive games in front of their fans. Looking at 76ers away form, they are holding a 2-3 record in the past 5 games, which is not that great, but a lot better than we could expect from them (looking at their season performances). In the last home match, 76ers won against Portland Trail Blazers by 1 point. Despite being only a 1 point win, 76ers were a underdog going into the match-up. That could be seen in the opening 12 minutes, where Trail Blazers got a 11 point lead (22:33) and even further extended it in 2nd quarter (21:23). 76ers had a tough job in the second half of the match, as they were trailing by 13 points, but they managed to deliver. In the 3rd quarter we could see an excellent performance from the home side, outscoring Portland by 12 points. This was shocking to me and most likely to many more people, especially for Portland. Trail Blazers seemed to got out of their rhythm and underperformed in the last 12 minutes (23:21), letting 76ers get a close but well deserved win. Statistic wise, neither of the teams shot good, 76ers (39.1%), Trail Blazers (37.1%). Philadelphia committed 19 turnovers and had 6 steals, Portland on the other hand had 13 turnovers and 8 steals. Top scorers of the match: Lillard (30pts), Ilyasova (24pts) and Covington (22pts).
The visiting side, LA Clippers are coming into this fixture after a win against Atlanta (105:115), which broke their 2 consecutive losing streak. Looking at their last 5 games, Clippers managed to win 3 and are hoping to add another win today against an opponent they historically were able to defeat numerous times. But their away record at the moment is not that good (2-6), so underestimating 76ers wouldn’t be a smart decision. Back to the match against Atlanta Hawks, Clippers started the 1st quarter strong, outscoring Atlanta by 9 points (21:30). In the next 12 minutes Clippers added another 9 points to their lead, which resulted in a (40:58) lead before heading into the locker rooms. We could see Atlanta fighting back in 3rd quarter of the match (35:27), but were unable to repeat their success in 4th quarter (30:30). The game ended with a 10 point lead for Clippers (105:115). Hawks shot 42% from the field, with 8 turnovers and 8 steals. Clippers did better with their shooting (50%FG), committed 11 turnovers and got 4 steals. Top scorers of the match; Rivers (27pts), Bezemore (25pts) and Schroder (21pts).
Verdiction & Prediction
As mentioned before, historically Clippers outperform 76ers (7-3), but I do not see an easy match ahead of Clippers tonight. The reasons are 2; for one, 76ers are well rested as their recent match against Atlanta Hawks was on 22th of January, second reason is that 76ers did perform very well in recent games, especially at home, on the other hand Clippers do not do such a good job on the road. It is true that Hawks defeated 76ers, but lost to Clippers but we must take into consideration the game 76ers lost was played on the road, where Philadelphia does not hold a good record, as mentioned before. With that in mind giving 76ers a 4.5 point lead should be enough to defeat Clippers and improve their historical record against them.
Prediction: Philadelphia 76ers +4.5
Odds: 1.95 Pinnacle
