Projected Line: Philadelphia by 9 points
***DOUBLE DIME PLAY***
Philadelphia is coming from a nice home win over Houston, where coach Doug Collins did a good job in preparing this game. The Sixers attacked well in transition with 10-12 FG and 24 fast break points, their backcourt also played very well and their dribble penetrations and pick and rolls really crushed the Rockets's poor defense. Houston had a decent offensive game, but they struggled from the 3pts defense, with the Sixers being successful on their perimeter defense. As a jump shooting team, Philadelphia really needs good spots to play their best basketball and they are indeed on a good spot for tonight. The Sixers average an 106 offensive rating when they are rested, while on back to back games their offensive rating is just 100 on average. For tonight, Philadelphia had two days of rest, so I believe we can expect the best Sixers to show up tonight.
The Sixers will now face the Hornets and they will have a clear edge on the perimeter, as New Orleans's really struggles on their perimeter defense, as seen on their loss in NY against the Knicks. With Philadelphia having a perimeter oriented offense with Jrue Holiday leading the team's offense through a high volume of pick and rolls, I expect them to torch the poor Hornets's defense on this specific area. Philadelphia is one of the teams in the league that less attempts shots at the rim with just 28.3% volume. However, they are #3 in the league in shots from the 16-23 feet area, where the Hornets are the 3rd worst defense by allowing 41.4% FG to their opponents for the season, while they have been allowing 46% FG on their last 10 games and 48% FG on their last 5 games! Philadelphia bases their offense on pick and roll ball handler plays, spot ups and transitions with a combine of 50% volume and New Orleans's defense is respectively #20, #26 and #26 on these kinds of plays, so the Sixers have indeed a very good offensive spot for tonight.
New Orleans's key factor on offense is what Greivis Vasquez can do on this matchup. The Knicks put a lot of pressure on him and as usual, Vasquez struggled on this kind of situation by ending last Sunday's game with just 6 assists and 4 turnovers! Today, coach Doug Collins will use the same approach by using a rested Jrue Holiday to put pressure on Vasquez and with that the Hornets's offense won't be working well today. We will also have Evan Turner working on a still rusty Eric Gordon, while the matchup between Thaddeus Young and Anthony Davis will be interesting, as Young is the kind of player that can really take advantage of Davis's inexperience. I believe in an easy win for Philadelphia tonight and so, I'll be taking them in here on a Double Dime Play!
Pick: 4 units (Double Dime Play) on 504 Philadelphia 76ers (-3) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
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