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LA Clippers @ Philadelphia 7:05 PM EST
Philadelphia -6.5 over LA Clippers (3.5 Units)
Bit by bit, the Philadelphia 76ers are starting to get back to health, as Greg Buckner has returned from injury, and Derrick Coleman is not far behind... The Clips on the other hand are walking wounded, as not only is Lamar Odom on the injured list, but Corey Maggette has torn cartilage in his right knee, and super-sub Quentin Richardson is uncertain with a hyper-extended right knee... in essence, these teams seem to be heading in opposite directions, as the 76ers are getting better in many facets, while the Clips are in danger of falling into a void within the Western Conference...
In each of the last three games, Philadelphia has improved both on offense AND defense, increasing their scoring output in each contest, while tightening the screws on the defensive end from 98 to 95 to 86 points... meanwhile, the Clippers have seen their scoring decrease for three straight games, and now have to hit the road for the first time this season against a Philly team that has been rested since Friday... usually, the first road trek is a disaster for the Clips, as they have failed to cover their last four road openers... and as a road dog of 5+ points against Eastern Conference teams, the Clippers are an ugly 11-20 ATS... overall, LA is on an 0-5-2 ATS run since the end of last season, and are in disarray right now, so supporting them here is a risky proposition at best...
It gets even riskier when facing Philadelphia, for while the Sixers are often known as a blue-collar team that wins, but never by large margins, they have been utterly dominant at home against the Clips... in their last five home games against LA, not only have the Sixers won both SU and ATS on each occasion, they have won EACH of those games by a minimum of 15 points.... even in the last five games of this series overall, the 76ers have gone 4-1 both SU and ATS, and have won each contest by 14+ points.... Philadelphia has certainly improved their scoring potential this year with the additions of Keith Van Horn and Todd MacCulloch, and versatile substitutes Brian Skinner and Greg Buckner...
The key to this game may very well be the terrific fourth-quarter performance by Allen Iverson against the Knicks, where he finally stopped settling for low-percentage outside jumpers and drove towards the basket in a 6-7 shooting period where he netted 15 points... if Iverson continues to drive to the hoop, the Sixers offense should open up immensely, and finally achieve its full potential... we look for that exact scenario to occur against a Clippers team that will have all types of problems defending Iverson's quickness, as the Sixers move to 7-2-1 ATS in their last ten games as a home favorite of 5+ points with another double-digit win over the Clippers...
FINAL PREDICTION: PHILADELPHIA 102, LA CLIPPERS 85