Opening Price (via DraftKings): Philadelphia 76ers (-900) Brooklyn Nets (+550)
In a cruel twist of fate the basketball gods gave us Philadelphia and Brooklyn in a playoff series, but it carries none of the narrative weight it once did. Instead, we get a series which should carry little drama for Philadelphia on its path to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The betting market is very low on this iteration of the Nets, but the real reason behind this massive series price on the 76ers is Joel Embiid.
Brooklyn has no one on this roster capable of defending Embiid on a possession to possession basis. Nicolas Claxton is a fine defender at center, but there is a 65-pound difference between him and Embiid. In the lone meeting of consequence between these two versions of Brooklyn and Philadelphia on Feb. 11 the Nets consistently sent double teams at Embiid in order to get the ball out of his hands. That strategy did not work. In 37 minutes Embiid scored 37 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor, and he got to the free throw line 13 times. The Nets do not have much depth at center either, so the 6-foot-9 Day’Ron Sharpe will likely have a go at defending Embiid as well should Claxton get into foul trouble, which has a high probability of happening in this series.