NBA: Wednesday picks for the 76ers and Nets

76ers (-4.5) @ Suns (228) 9:05

Pick: Under 228

The Sixers play their 20th road game of the season tonight and for just the seventh time they are favored away from the Wells Fargo Center. Tonight’s game is the final one on their five-game road trip. They’ve split the first four and covered in wins in Utah and Los Angeles. Last night, however, they let the Clippers rally in the second half getting outscored 55-43 in the final two quarters and what looked like a blowout early got close late. The final score landed at 119-113. The total at 232 was no surprise for a Sixers team that often struggles to defend but can score in bunches. For that reason, we think there’s some value on under 228 tonight. With Philly on the second night of a back-to-back, having to expend more energy than expected in the second half last night, against a Phoenix team that’s 26th in the NBA in points per game, we’re not expecting as many points in this one.

Pelicans (+1) @ Nets (229) 7:35

Pick: Nets -1

The Nets are in the middle of a weird stretch in their schedule. They played three home games before Christmas, then a road back-to-back in two different time zones before the new year, had three days off before tonight’s game back in Brooklyn, and then have three more road games including another back-to-back on Sunday and Monday. When they’ve been on the floor, Brooklyn’s been getting big efforts from its reserves as Spencer Dinwiddie’s career year has been almost entirely off the bench, while Jarrett Allen is shooting 58% from the field and averaging 1.4 blocks per game. Ed Davis has been rebounding at a very high level at 16.6 rebounds per 36 minutes which is second in the NBA amongst qualifiers. New Orleans is not as deep and has been a nightmare on the road sitting at 4-15 in away games and 7-12 ATS in those 19 away from The Big Easy. The Nets are the only side we can find enough rationale to back in this one.