This makes for an interesting game to cap due to the Sixers’ recent slide.  It’s clear who the better team is here, but can we trust them to snap out of their funk tonight?  Lucky for them, and us, the Sixers are playing in the comfy confines of the Well Fargo Center where they have been especially deadly this year. In fact, the Sixers possess the best home record in the league with 28 wins in 30 tries.  Their defense is especially effective at home and that plays heavily into our play today. Their defensive rating of 102.4 in Philly is one of the best in the NBA and the might keep the Pistons to a very low score tonight.

Now the Sixers are dealing with a number of significant injuries.  Ben Simmons is out indefinitely and Joel Embiid is questionable to suit up tonight. This is the cause for Philly’s recent struggler.  But this also plays into our pick tonight.

See the Pistons are also dealing with a number of scrapes. They will be without Brice Brown and Derrick Rose tonight and even with them, they are a rather ineffective offense.  Hell, they only managed to score 84 points on the road against the Knicks on Sunday. 84 points!! Against the Knicks!

With all the injuries on each side, this game is begging to be bet on the Under 215. If Embiid, Brown, and Henson are all no-goes, this might be one of the lowest-scoring games we’ve seen in weeks.

This game will be our NBA parlay of the day also as I really like the Sixers to cover the 11 point spread.  The Pistons have not covered once in their last 5 games against Philly and the Sixers are on a 14-0 tear at home as far as ATS records go.

Next, we head out west to a pair of teams fighting for home-court advantage in the Playoffs.  The Thunder will be hosting the Jazz tonight with OKC currently -1.5 point home favorites.

The Jazz come into this game having split their last 20, winning 10 and losing 10, which includes losses to the Suns, Blazers, and Spurts TWICE!  For those unaware, each of those three teams will not be in the playoffs.  It is a red flag when you have a team a strong as the Jazz are who just can’t beat losing teams.

The Thunder are not one of those losing teams, but the Jazz really needs this win. They are in danger of losing their 4 seed to OKC and will move into a tie if Utah loses tonight.

Now despite splitting their last 20 games, the Jazz have rebounded nicely and are 5-1 in their last six, with that loss coming at the hands of the Raptors on Monday.

So is a bounce back in order for Utah?

I think yes.  And I am willing to go against recent trends.  Sure, Utah is just 2-8 ATS in their last 10 and 1-7 in their last 8 games vs OKC.   Sure the Thunder have won outright in 18 of their last 19 games vs the Jazz.

But the fact of the matter is, the Jazz are a better team, not by a huge margin, but enough that i feel confident in taking them as 2 point road dogs.