NBA Free Play 12/26: Philadelphia 76ers @ Portland Trailblazers

Philadelphia  at Portland

NBA - 721 Philadelphia 76ers @ 722 Portland Trailblazers Projected line: Portland by 7 points In normal conditions, I wouldn't think that Portland is good enough to believe that they should be a 7 points favourite against a team like Philadelphia. However, I believe we have a mismatch working for Portland and the Blazers will simply take advantage of that. I'll talk about that mismatch later. In fact, I like Philadelphia for this season. They are a well coached team, with early chemistry and well defined rotations. Their perimeter defense is great and they have some depth that will help them during a tough season. However, in order for them to be efficient especially on offense, they need Elton Brand at 100% in order to have a minimally acceptable interior game and remove some pressure from the backcourt, as Iguodala, Holiday and Turner are good players but they are also inconsistent shooters. The problem that I saw in Philadelphia in their two preseason games against Washington is that I don't think Elton Brand is ready to go for this season. He's clearly not at 100% and besides him in the frontcourt, the Sixers have center Spencer Hawes, rookie big man Nikola Vucevic and forward Thaddeus Young, with none of them being a threat downlow. Without Brand in good form, there will be a lot of pressure on the Sixers backcourt to score and as they aren't good shooters, Philadelphia is primed to jack bad contested shots, especially when Louis Williams will be on the court. So, Portland is clearly a bad matchup for Philadelphia. The Sixers may have a good and athletic backcourt, but Portland owns an even more athletic backcourt with Wallace, Batum, Felton and Matthews, who will cause the Sixers perimeter players to struggle while looking for good spots to shoot the ball. I watched a preseason game of Portland and the Trailblazers are one of the teams with advanced team chemistry and their starting unit is really a great unit. They might have some problems with their depth as the season goes by, but for this game such problems won't exist. LeMarcus Aldridge played just one preseason game and he may look a bit rusty, but unlike Brand, Aldridge has such a vast offensive arsenal that he doesn't need to be at 100% to perform decently. Portland may eventually have some defensive problems during this season against powerful frontcourts, however that's not the case of the Sixers, who present a poor frontcourt unit. Portland's building will be rocking tonight and I expect a good win for them. I have the Trailblazers at -7 for tonight, so we have some value on them. Take Portland in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 722 Portland Trailblazers (-4) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker