Spread & Over/Under Predictions for Hornets at 76ers

Picks for tonight's Hornets game.

Star ratings:

1 Star - Not very confident

2 Star - A little confident

3 Star - Fairly confident

4 Star - Very confident

5 Star - Should be a lock to happen

Spread: 76ers -11.5

2 Star play on the 76ers (11.5): Both teams come into the matchup on a bit of a losing skid and missing key contributors. Charlotte has lost three of their last four after a hot start after the trade deadline, and will once again be missing LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams. Philadelphia has lost four of their last five games, and will be without All-NBA big Joel Embiid, as role players like De'Anthony Melton and Robert Covington.

With so many key pieces missing on both sides, leaning the home Sixers squad with a Friday night crowd at its back is the way to go. The young Hornets have struggled on the road, and are matched up against one of the toughest defenses in the league.

Philly doesn't sport a squad that is going to beat themselves, so Charlotte is going to have to remained disciplined themselves, and score with an efficiency this new-look squad has not been able to muster thus far if they are going to cover.

Over/Under: 213.5

1 Star play on the under: This line is extremely low with good reason. When there are this many key players missing, and two solid defenses matched up, it's easy to predict a low total.

I would generally stay away from this line, but with how putrid Charlotte's offense has been the under might be fine here even if Philly doesn't see a dramatic dip in offensive output without Embiid. 

My picks this season

ATS: 9-3 (75.0%)

O/U: 5-7 (41.7%)

Overall: 14-10 (58.3%)