James Harden U 20 Points
While James Harden may be on a mission to show that he deserved to be named an All-Star, we cannot bet on that alone to ensure he’s going to cover a 20 point line. Harden hasn’t hit 20 points in 4 of his last 5 games and is instead padding the stat sheet with assists and rebounds.
In the past few games, Joel Embiid is in command of all scoring for the 76ers going for 30+ points while the rest of the starting 5 (outside of Tyrese Maxey, who is a 6th man) scores in low double digits.
Harden’s role is to be the quarterback for the 76ers and to set up plays for the offense by putting his teammates in position to score – if the line was for Harden to get a triple double, I would be more comfortable throwing down on this, but to get 20 points against the best team in the league, we’re going to fade Harden and hit the under 20 points on this line.
Al Horford U 8 Points
In his last 6 of 7 games, Al Horford hasn’t eclipsed 8 points. There is no reason to think he’ll be to change direction against the 76ers as he’s unreliable from the 3 point line and will have a tough time scoring in the paint with Joel Embiid on the other side.
Horford hasn’t attempted more than 6 Field Goals in each of his last 5 games, which gives more weight to the idea that Horford eclipsing 8 points tonight seems unrealistic.
His role has become more of a rebounder while the Celtics rely on Tatum and Brown to score. Fade Horford here and hammer the under on 8 points tonight.
Jaylen Brown O 2.5 3-Pointers
We’re feeling strong about Brown hitting at least three 3 pointers tonight. Brown is a high volume shooter from deep, shooting 12, 12, 9, 8 times respectively in his last four games from beyond the arc.
In his last two games in Boston, Brown has hit 3 and 7 times from deep and there is no reason to think on his home court that Brown shouldn’t be able to do more of the same against the 76ers tonight.
He is the Celtics 2nd scoring option, and he plays big minutes every night. We’re going to hammer the over on this 3-point line and as stated earlier, we would expect Brown to potentially get upwards of three 3 pointers in this contest against a weak defensive player matched up against him in James Harden.