Nets vs 76ers Game 2 Odds: Line Shortens on Philadelphia
Philadelphia Expected to Whoop Brooklyn, Go Up 2-0
More Points and More Philly for Game 2
Game 1 went just as expected: the Philadelphia 76ers blew out the Brooklyn Nets 121-101. Philadelphia had no issues covering its 8.5-point spread as it also pushed the 213.5-point total to go over. The combination of Joel Embiid and James Harden was unstoppable for Philly. Now, the Nets vs 76ers odds expect more of the same with the Sixers’ moneyline shortening (-500) and the spread now being at 10 points.
Nets vs 76ers 
Date, time:
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Stream: TNT
No Stopping Philadelphia’s Stars
Star power was the big difference between Philadelphia and Brooklyn. The Nets’ Mikal Bridges led all players with 30 points. But the Nets could not stop Philly’s stars. Embiid, Harden, and Tobias Harris combined for 70 points.
Embiid scored 26 points with 11 coming from the free-throw line. Harden, meanwhile, hit 7-of-13 from deep. The Sixers buried the Nets by sinking 21 of their 43 3-pointers.
“He just makes everybody better,” Nic Claxton of the Nets, a former teammate of Harden, said of him per USA Today’s Sixers Wire. “He hasn’t missed the playoffs since he’s been in the league and it’s remarkable because he hasn’t always been on the talented teams and the way his game has aged. Leading the league in assists and still impacting the game the way that he is.”
Harden did not shoot the ball particularly well. He made just one field goal outside of 3-point range. But he posted his 37th double-double of the season and had the Sixers’ offense humming. Philadelphia led most of the game and outscored Brooklyn in all four quarters per the NBA’s latest scores.
Embiid, the frontrunner to win MVP this season, did most of his damage in the third quarter. He played all 12 minutes and scored 10 points.
Claxton, the Nets’ best defender, did a decent job on Embiid. He held him to seven points on 3-of-7 shooting in seven minutes as his primary defender. Still, the Nets focused so much on the big man that the rest of the Sixers pummeled them from downtown.
The Nets vs 76ers odds expect a similar result for Game 2. The line initially opened at -9.5 on Philadelphia, but that was quickly bet down. Philly improved to 21-15-1 against the spread (ATS) as a home favorite this season.
Under Doc Rivers, the Sixers cover over 54.6 percent of their home games, which is the fourth-best mark among hosts since the start of the 2020-21 season.
Improved Defense Could Lead to Lower Total
While Philadelphia handled business against Brooklyn, the team had a glaring issue: defense. The Sixers held the Nets to just 101 points. But the visitors still shot 55.7 percent from the field and 44.8 percent from 3-point range. Veteran Sixers forward P.J. Tucker was not impressed.
“Our defense was s–t today,” said Tucker to the Sixers Wire. “We gotta get better. We scored the ball pretty easy. We played well on offense. We picked it up the second half. I think that’s what got us to win, but we got to be a lot better.”
Indeed, Brooklyn shot 63.2 percent from the field in the first half. Had the Sixers not hit 13 of their 21 3-point attempts, they would not have led.
Philadelphia did defend better in the second half as Tucker said. But that is to be taken with a grain of salt, as Brooklyn’s least efficient quarter was partially due to garbage time in the fourth.
Early bettors felt bearish about the Nets vs 76ers odds opening the total at 215 points. They bet it down to 214 where it stands currently. This is amidst recent trends such as four of these teams’ last five games going over their totals. Five of Brooklyn’s last seven road games have also gone the same way.
Philadelphia allows 109 points on average at home, which is the fourth-fewest. The team limited Brooklyn to just 102 points despite their proficient shooting. If it can bother them even more, the Sixers will show just why these teams are far apart in the 2023 NBA standings.
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