Sixers Ready to Roll Past Reeling Lakers

Great teams rise to the top of the NBA standings – but it doesn’t hurt to be fortunate as well. The Philadelphia 76ers check both boxes Thursday night as they carry a three-game winning streak into a West Coast encounter with the L.A. Lakers. Philadelphia (31-13 SU, 25-16-3 ATS) will avoid having to face the two best players for the free-falling Lakers (28-16 SU, 21-23 ATS).

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The 76ers kicked off the betting festivities as a 4.5-point road favorite, but that line has since expanded to -6 in most spots. The total has also grown, from 213.5 to 215.5 or even 216 at the odd sportsbook.

Philadelphia News & Notes

After nearly blowing a victory against a Golden State team missing its best player in Steph Curry, the 76ers are again handed a gift as they tangle with a Lakers team still without LeBron James and Anthony Davis. While the Sixers will be without their own best player in center Joel Embiid, they’re 7-6 SU this season without him, including a 5-1 stretch over their last six games.

Help could be on the way as well, with the 76ers engaged in trade talks with the Toronto Raptors for star point guard Kyle Lowry. Regardless of what the Philadelphia roster looks like Thursday night, you can expect the sensational duo of Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris to once again handle the majority of the offensive load. Consider the OVER on the point props for both players.

Los Angeles News & Notes

No one expected the Lakers to look like conference champions with both James and Davis sidelined, but few could have seen L.A. looking as bad as it has. The Lakers fell to 0-3 without the all-star pair with a 128-111 loss to New Orleans last time out. That was their second straight 17-point loss; they had fallen by 17 or more points just twice all season prior to those defeats.

Ending their losing ways will require improvement on both ends of the floor, but the offense will need to be a priority, with the Lakers averaging just 99.7 points during their losing streak.

Big man Montrezl Harrell has led the team in scoring in three straight games and should feast against a Philadelphia frontcourt missing one of the most imposing bodies in the NBA.

Betting Pick: 76ers -6 (-110)

Philadelphia’s 1-2 punch of Simmons and Harris is far better than anything the Lakers can counter with, which makes the 76ers a comfortable play against the spread.