Brooklyn Nets vs Philadelphia 76ers Odds and Picks

• The Nets visit the 76ers on Thursday night
• Philly is a 4.5-point home favorite
• Find the odds, spreads, preview, and picks below

James Harden prepares to face his former team for the first time since February’s blockbuster trade as the Brooklyn Nets visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center. The tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM EST.

Brooklyn is still slumping, but they did break out of their losing streak on Tuesday with a 132-121 win over the Charlotte Hornets, with Kyrie Irving erupting for 50 points. The Sixers meanwhile, just blew out the Chicago Bulls on Monday night behind another terrific performance from the superstar duo Joel Embiid and Harden.

While he isn’t playing here, Ben Simmons makes his return to Philly and he’s expected to receive a ton of hate from the Sixers faithful.

Nets vs 76ers Odds

Odds as of March 9th at FanDuel.

The 76ers are a 4.5-point home favorite and have won four of their last five at Wells Fargo.

Huge Game For Brooklyn

After Kevin Durant missed substantial time and Kyrie was barely able to play, the Nets really took a slide and now sit at just 33-33 on the season. That puts them in eighth place and at the moment, it means they would play the Toronto Raptors in the play-in tournament. Coming into 2021/22, there is no way Brooklyn envisioned this scenario, but the James Harden trade really shook things up. Steve Nash will now be hoping Ben Simmons can make his debut sooner rather than later, but there is no clear timetable for his return yet.

Ball movement was on another level last night 🪙 pic.twitter.com/ozIIQ88y5G

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 9, 2022

Surprisingly, KD actually had a cold night against Charlotte, scoring just 14 points. but, Irving made sure to pick up the slack, scoring a season-high 50 points while going 9 for 12 from three-point land. Andre Drummond, who also came over in the Sixers trade, made his presence felt down low. The big man had 20 points and 14 boards as a total of five Nets players finished in double-digits.

KYRIE IRVING 🔥
50 POINTS on 19 SHOTSpic.twitter.com/lYyrmM2nsH

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 9, 2022

Brooklyn isn’t exactly the best shooting team but boy, did they make it rain in Buzz City, draining a mind-boggling 51% of their triples. It was refreshing to see someone other than Durant leading the charge and it showed just how important Kyrie is to this squad. There’s optimism he could play on a full-time basis soon as well.

Harden-Embiid Era Looking Brilliant

Some believed the Sixers gave up too much in order to acquire Harden, but he’s already proving why Daryl Morey made the perfect move to elevate Philly to a title contender. Since The Beard has joined the team, Doc Rivers’ group has only lost once and he wasn’t even playing because of injury management. Through five outings, Harden is flashing his versatile skill set, averaging 24.6 points, 12.4 assists, and 7.6 rebounds. Truly a Swiss Army knife.

James Harden in 5 games with the Sixers:

24.6 PPG
7.6 RPG
12.4 APG
53/45/89%

5-0. pic.twitter.com/tNA8vIluob

— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 8, 2022

Monday’s 11th straight win over the Bulls was once again the Harden and Joel Embiid show. The MVP frontrunner stole the spotlight with a 43-point, 14 rebound night, but Harden did his fair share of damage to hand Embiid easy baskets, scoring 16 and dishing out 14 dimes. Tyrese Maxey, who has really benefited from Harden’s arrival, also had 17 points.

43 PTS | 14 REB | 3 BLK

Joel Embiid remains undefeated against the Bulls. 😈

🎥 presented by @PALottery pic.twitter.com/Frz8mY7wSO

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 8, 2022

The one area where the Sixers thrived, in particular, was ball movement. They notched 29 assists as a team, which resulted in a lot of open shots. That once again comes back to Harden’s ability to create for others, not just Embiid. Now, he’ll have the chance to wreak havoc against his ex-team.

Nets vs 76ers Prediction

The Nets have actually won two out of three against Philly this season, but both teams have a much different look now. To be honest, I don’t see the Sixers losing at home, where they’ve been hot recently. Embiid and Co. are going to comfortably cover.

Pick: 76ers -4.5 (-110)