Philadelphia 76ers vs Orlando Magic Prediction, Props, Odds & Spread (Dec. 27)

• Missing Joel Embiid again, the Philadelphia 76ers visit the Orlando Magic on Dec. 27
• Orlando is playing its second game in as many days after winning in DC last night
• See the 76ers vs Magic odds, player props, and predictions for Wednesday’s game

Two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference meet on Wednesday as the Philadelphia 76ers (20-9, 6-6 away, 20-9 ATS) visit the Orlando Magic (18-11, 11-3 home, 20-9 ATS) at the Kia Center at 7:00 pm ET.

For the second straight game, the Sixers will have to do without the NBA’s leading scorer, Joel Embiid. Despite Orlando playing its second game in as many days, the Magic are 2.5-point home-court favorites over the shorthanded 76ers.

Philadelphia 76ers vs Orlando Magic Odds

Orlando is -130 on the moneyline in Wednesday’s NBA odds while the Sixers are +110 underdogs. The game total is at 228.5 with -110 odds both ways.

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Philadelphia Winless Without Embiid This Season

To say that reigning NBA MVP Embiid has been instrumental to Philadelphia’s success this season would be a drastic understatement. Not only does he lead the league in scoring at 35.0 PPG, he also owns the best Player Efficiency Rating at 34.7, which is 3.3 points ahead of Nikola Jokic (31.4) and also 3.3 points higher than his previous best PER (set just last year).

He is currently the +175 betting favorite in the 2024 NBA MVP odds, slightly ahead of Jokic (+279) and Luka Doncic (+575).

The Sixers put up a good fight without Embiid on Christmas Day at Miami,  fighting back from a 70-49 deficit early in the third quarter to tie the game at 99-99 in the fourth. But the Heat pulled away late for a 119-113 win.

Tobias Harris had a team-high 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting. If the Sixers had gotten a better performance from Tyrese Maxey, who’s second on the team in scoring (and 14th in the NBA) at 25.9 PPG, they likely would have won. But Maxey scored just 12 points on an abysmal 4-of-20 performance from the floor in 44 minutes.

The loss to Miami dropped the Sixers to 0-4 in games without Embiid this season. They previously lost at Minnesota by 13, at New Orleans by 10, and at Boston by six.   But they remain the top team in the NBA in Net Rating (+10.9) and point differential (+10.8).

Magic Dust Aside Wizards

After a mediocre first half against Washington last night which saw the Magic take a slim three-point lead into the break, Orlando turned it on in the third quarter and early in the fourth, opening up a 117-100 lead before some garbage-time points from the Wizards made the final score (119-127) look more respectable.

Orlando got a big performance from Franz Wagner in the win: 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting plus nine assists and eight rebounds for a near triple-double. Leading scorer Paolo Banchero added 24 and eight assists while rookie Anthony Black (23 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field plus six rebounds) had by far his best game as a pro.

Orlando’s efficiency numbers pale in comparison to Philadelphia – they are tied for eighth in the NBA with a +3.1 Net Rating – but their play at home has been exceptional. The Magic are 11-3 at home and had a nine-game home win streak broken by Miami on Dec. 20 (115-106).

They responded with three solid road performances thereafter, falling 118-114 at Milwaukee as 8.5-point underdogs before beating Indiana 117-110 as 2.5-point underdogs and, most-recently, winning at Washington last night by eight.

PHI vs ORL Player Props

Player props from the DraftKings app.  

In a rarity, four different players are listed with a point total over 20 points. Philadelphia’s Maxey leads the way at 29.5, followed by Orlando’s Banchero and Wagner at 23.5, and Philly’s Harris at 20.5.

Also somewhat unusually, no player has a rebound total over 7.5 (Banchero) in the NBA player props for Philadelphia vs Orlando.

PHI 76ers vs ORL Magic Prediction

The Sixers should have the depth to tread water without Embiid. Maxey has become a bona fide go-to scorer while Harris is a consummate veteran who can grow to the size of his pond, so to speak. The drop off in their play without their leading scorer, however, has been stark this season, and Orlando is not a flash in the pan.

Not counting Markelle Fultz, who’s only played five games, the Magic have eight players averaging at least 20 minutes per game. No one played more than 38 minutes last night as head coach Jamahl Mosley spread the minutes around during the first leg of their back-to-backs. I don’t expect fatigue to be too big a factor this evening.

PHI vs ORL pick: Magic -2.5 (-105)

Sascha Paruk’s 2023-24 NBA betting record:

• 10-7-2 ATS (+2.41 units)
• 8-7 ML (+2.05 units)
• 5-11 player props (-6.6 units)

All wagers one unit unless expressly stated otherwise.