Game Time: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 

Venue: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Philly -2.5

BetMGM:  Spread:  

VegasInsider:  Spread:  Philly -2.5; O/U 216.5

WynnBet: Spread:  Philly -2; O/U 216.5

Phoenix: 42-10, 1st place Western Conference

Philly: 32-21, 5th place Eastern Conference

A non-conference battle between teams with playoff and Finals dreams.  The Phoenix Suns may have dreamt of an NBA title for decades… but they are not sleeping.  The Suns are the winningest team in the Western Conference… the winningest team in all of the NBA… and the most perfectly balanced offense and defense in the league.  The Suns are strong at every position… even the ethereal opinion positions… like “best leader”, “best bench”, “best starting five”... It’s all true.  PG Chris Paul is the best leader. Several Suns bench players like Cameron Payne, Cameron Johnson, and Landry Shamet are simply waiting for their opportunity to start either with the Suns or elsewhere.  They can handle it, they have the skills.  The starting five has everything… a leading scorer, a leading assist guy, a leading rebounder… and unlike the Denver Nuggets or the New York Knicks or the Indiana Pacers…. Those are all different guys… not just one guy carrying the team.  That balance keeps the Suns winning.  That balance keeps the Suns competitive even when someone hits the injured list.  That balance is crucial… and why no one has been able to hold onto their faith in the Brooklyn Nets and the trio of all-NBA players.   The 76ers have ten less wins than the Phoenix Suns and double the losses… and they are a good team.  They are a playoff bound team.  They aren't in the top eight in the Eastern Conference…. They are in the top five with a cushion. The Philadelphia 76ers have Center Joel Embiid who is having an MVP season if only his team could support him into a slightly higher ranking. The 76ers have a solid breakout player in PG Tyrese Maxey.  The 76ers still have the multi talented SF Tobias Harris who is nowhere near as overpaid as people say given that his defense plus 18.9 ppg and 7.3 rpg are better than several Max players in this league.  They also have Seth curry who is hitting 40% from behind the arc.  The only thing they are missing is… the tantrum throwing Max contract player Ben Simmons!  Every dollar the Sixers spend on Tobias Harris is worth 1000X what they are theoretically spending on Ben Simmons (after arbitration gets back most of his salary) and his consistent staline of 0 ppg, 0rpg, 0 apg, 0 mpg.  The 76ers are a Finals contender if they can dump Ben Simmons for any usable pieces.  Also we wouldn’t be going through any of this had they kept their 2018 draft pick SF Mikal Bridges… whose Mom works for the team… instead of trying to be the smartest guys in the room and proving otherwise.

The Phoenix Suns keep on winning. They have won 9 of their last ten games… and until a weird loss against the Atlanta Hawks on Feb 3rd… they were on an 11 game winning streak.  An 11 game winning streak would be bragging rights for every team in the league… for the Suns it’s 7 games shorter than their longest winning streak.  Point Guard Chris Paul in his 16th NBA season is still pouring in 10.4 assists per game and schooling much younger point guards while he picks their pockets.  SG Devin Booker is a spiritual student of Kobe Bryant.  It’s clear Devin is a serious kid who works on his game over and over until he has made himself a comfortable 25 ppg scorer and maintained it for 5 seasons in a row.  It doesn’t hurt that he will also give the Suns 5 rbs and 5 ast every night.  C Deandre Ayton cleans the glass.  Deandre is a walking double-double.  There are better Centers, but no better fits… than Deandre Ayton on the Suns. As a winning team the Suns are usually up against big point spreads.  -13.5 vs San Antonio, -13.5 vs Indiana Pacers… double digit spreads in the NBA are ridiculous.  Still the Suns are 6-4 ATS in their last ten games.  They will be favored every time they take the floor unless one of the big three is out and the matchup is with the Warriors… so betting the Suns MEANS getting comfortable with the spread.

The Philadelphia 76ers have won 7 of their last ten games.  They lost to the Los Angeles Clippers (who are a very unpredictable team), the Washington Wizards (who have the talent just not the direction), and the Dallas Mavericks (who have Luka Doncic, top-3 player easy).  The 76ers are a good team that could be great… they just have too much riding on Joel Embiid's shoulders.  If I were Joel Embiid and my team does not move Ben Simmons by THIS trade deadline… I would put in my own trade request and do my own hold-out.  Joel won’t do that because he has too much honor, loyalty, and pride…. But he also has a career that is actively being wasted.  The greatest players to ever play basketball…  Jordans, James, Johnson, Bird… could not carry teams.  No one can in a sport that puts ten players on the court.  They were asked and capable of leading other good/great players to higher and more consistent levels.  A winning NBA franchise usually has a guy like that (or Curry or Duncan or O’Neil) and surrounds that guy with TALENT.  Embiid has some talent around him, but the franchise as a whole has a big empty hole.  The process worked… the last player of the process is not playing.  For Philly’s sake and Embiid’s, hopefully it isn’t for James Harden. A thing for Philly to worry about is that Cleveland just picked up Caris LaVert from the Indiana Pacers for expiring money and a couple unnecessary (unnecessary to Cleveland) picks.. So the competition in the East just got fiercer!

WOW! Since December 1st, my picks have made an EYE-POPPING $28,152! It's a 64-34 all sports run after Saturday, where I finished up 4-1 overall (3-1-1 for some). All season long, I've CLOBBERED the NBA and am now on a DYNAMIC 14-4 run with totals! This one happens to be a GIANT 10*! Go get it! Get Will Rogers’ picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Phoenix is 42-10 on the season, but 29-23 ATS.  They have logged 23 Overs, 28 Unders, and 1 Push. They are a dominant 20-5 in road games.  The Suns shoot the light out.  They are 2nd iin FG%, 8th in 3PT%, and 7th in FT%.  They are 6th on defense while allowing a stingy 105 ppg from opponents.

 

Philadelphia is 32-21 on the season, but 26-26-1 ATS.  They have notched 21 Overs, 30 Unders, and 1 Push. They are 14-11 in home games.

Phoenix is 3rd in scoring with 112.7 ppg, 5th in rebounds with 46.1 per game, and 3rd in AST/TO ratio with 2.0. 

Philadelphia is 21st in scoring with 107.8 ppg, 30th in rebounds with 42.1 per game, and 9th in AST/TO ratio with 1.9. They are shooting 7th in FG%, 10th in 3PT%, and 5th in FT%.  On defense they rank 8th while allowing a sparse 105.6 ppg from opponents.

Our prediction for Tuesday, February 8th is….  Suns 118 - 76ers 111

The 76ers will be coming off a tense battle with the Bulls.  It was a real battle between SF DeMar DeRozan and C Joel Embiid.  All-stars, MVP candidates, powerful performances both.  The Sixers got the win but will turn up emotionally wiped for the better Suns.  Plus this game will take place 36 hours from the trade deadline… meaning 1 or 2 Sixers may get put on the bench to prevent injury before the team tries to finish a big trade.  None of the key Suns are or should be on the trading block.

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The Suns are 52 Over - 30 Under in non-conference games the last 3 seasons.

Phoenix is 3-0 ATS versus Philly over the last 3 seasons.

4 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER the last 3 seasons.

Suns: PG Landry Shamet (ankle) Out ** PG Cameron Payne (wrist) Out ** SF Dario Saric Out

76ers: SG Matisse Thybulle (shoulder) Out ** PG Shake Milton (back) Out ** SG Ben Simmons (tantrum) Out

Suns: SF Mikal Bridges, Pf Jae Crowder, C Deandre Ayton, SG Devin Booker, PG Chris Paul

76ers: SF Tobias Harris, PF Danny Green, C Joel Embiid, Sg Tyrese Maxet, PG Seth Curry

Suns

Points: Devin Booker 25.2

Assists: Chris Paul 10.4

Rebounds: Deandre Ayton 10.5

Steals: Chris Paul 1.9

Blocks: Bismack Biyombo 1.0 

76ers

Points: Joel Embiid 29.3

Assists: Tyrese Maxey 4.8

Rebounds: Joel Embiid 10.9

Steals: Matisse Thybulle 1.8

Blocks: Joel Embiid 1.5

Suns: Monty Williams

76ers: Doc Rivers