NBA Playoffs Game 2: Philadelphia vs Miami Betting & Odds

The Philadelphia 76ers played Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series without star Joel Embiid and the Miami Heat played without top point guard Kyle Lowry. The Heat won fairly easily and both players will sit again Wednesday, with the Heat solid favorites on the NBA odds.

How to Bet Sixers at Heat NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Wednesday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: FTX Arena
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Heat -8.5 (total 207.5)

Why Bet on Philadelphia?

The Sixers led the Heat by a point at halftime in Game 1 but lost 106-92. Tobias Harris scored 10-plus points in each half to finish with a game-high 27 points for Philadelphia. Miami won the rebounding battle, 47-37, and scored 18 points on the back of 15 offensive rebounds.

Superstar Joel Embiid, the NBA’s scoring champion, went down with a right orbital fracture and a mild concussion in Philadelphia’s Game 6 of their series against the Toronto Raptors last week. Embiid took a hard elbow to the face in the final minutes of that win. He missed Game 1 of this series and won’t play Game 2 … but maybe Game 3. Embiid, an MVP candidate, is coming off a season where he averaged a career-high 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.

“I know he’s feeling a lot better,” Coach Doc Rivers said. “I don’t want to give false hope, either. So I’ll just stop there.”

As Embiid continues his rehab, the Sixers plan to keep DeAndre Jordan in his starting role even though Jordan was minus-22 in Game 1. He had four points and just two rebounds in 17 minutes.

“We like DJ, we’re going to keep starting him whether you like it or not,” Rivers said. “That’s what we’re gonna do because our guys believe in him. It’s funny at halftime, we asked our key guys, we were thinking about it because I thought Paul Millsap gave us decent minutes, and to a man, that’s where they wanted to go.”

In Game 2, the Sixers must improve upon a 6-for-34 performance from long distance that included a 0-for-7 showing by Georges Niang and a 1-for-6 evening by Tyrese Maxey, players that shot over 40 percent on threes during the regular season.

James Harden finished with 16 points on 13 shots. He tallied as many turnovers (five) as assists. For the Sixers to pull the upset, Harden didn’t need to score 30 or 40 points, but he needed to be the best player on the floor, creating offense for himself and teammates at a dominant clip. He was far from that. Harden cannot consistently beat people off the dribble anymore.

Why Bet on Miami?

The Heat already have ruled out point guard Kyle Lowry in Game 2 with his hamstring injury. Lowry, 36, suffered the injury against the Hawks in Game 3 last round. He missed the entire fourth quarter of the contest, which was the only game Miami lost in the series. Lowry hasn’t played since

The Heat started Gabe Vincent in place of Lowry on Monday. Vincent finished with 10 points and three assists in 29 minutes, shooting 4-of-12. Lowry’s absence has also resulted in Victor Oladipo playing more, as Oladipo received nearly 27 minutes in the game. Vincent is questionable for Wednesday’s Game 2 against the 76ers due to knee irritation but expected to play.

Guard Max Strus (hamstring) is also questionable but carried the same designation into Monday’s Game 1. Strus has started all six of Miami’s postseason contests, and over the last three games he’s played 36, 32 and 33 minutes, respectively. He finished Game 1 victory over Philly with just five points and five boards.

PJ Tucker and Tyler Herro are also questionable. Tucker continues to battle a calf injury, but he’s played in all six of Miami’s postseason games so far. The defensive-minded forward posted 10 points seven rebounds and one assist Monday. Tucker is shooting 10-of-19 (.526) from three-point range in the playoffs. Herro scored a team-high 25 points and dished out seven assists during Monday’s Game 1 victory but tweaked his ankle.

Jimmy Butler didn’t practice Tuesday due to an excused absence, but he’s expected to play in Game 2. The All-Star forward notched 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals across 30 minutes during Game 1. Butler is averaging a team-high 2.60 steals this postseason.

Bam Adebayo posted a 24-point, 12-rebound double-double in Game 1, marking his 11th career postseason 20-point, 10-rebound double-double game. Those are No. 2 in Heat history.

Game Trends

76ers are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
76ers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
76ers are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games as a road underdog.
Heat are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 home games.
Heat are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games following a straight up win.
76ers are 1-5-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Miami.