The Houston Rockets and the Philadelphia 76ers are up to play one more warm-up game before the playoffs.
The Rockets, who defeated Philadelphia last January, 118-108, have lost their last two outings, while the Sixers have gone winless in their previous three games.
Catch this game live on Saturday at 9 AM (Manila time).
HOME TEAM: Houston Rockets (44-27, 24-11 at home)
The good news for the Rockets is that they will stay in Orlando for the playoffs. The bad news is that Russell Westbrook will be missing at least a few games due to a quad injury. That includes Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
It’s also possible that the Rockets will rest James Harden, who led the team with 45 points in a losing effort (108-104) against the Indiana Pacers last Thursday. Harden also had 17 rebounds and 9 assists in the Indiana game, showing further proof that there’s not a game that he won’t try to stuff the stat sheets. But like Westbrook, Harden might get rested tomorrow.
With or without Harden and Westbrook, though, the Rockets will always buy in to their offensive philosophy, a big part of which is about shooting the lights out from downtown. The Rockets are leading all Orlando bubble teams with 18.3 3-pointers made per game since the NBA restarted the season.
The Rockets have also beaten the spread in both of their last two dates with Philly.
ROAD TEAM: Philadelphia 76ers (42-30, 11-26 on the road)
The Sixers are limping their way into the playoffs due to poor form and a hurting roster.
They are 0-3 in their last three games, stitching together losses to the Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, and the Toronto Raptors. Philly’s 125-121 loss to the Raps last Thursday, however, saw the Sixers snap their two-game ATS losing skid by sneaking in their +6 spread.
Joel Embiid is currently questionable to play against the Rockets after playing in just 14 minutes in the Raptors game. Embiid returned to action last Thursday after missing the showdown with Phoenix due to an ankle issue.
With not much to play for this Saturday, the Sixers might take the precaution of letting Embiid get some more rest than risk aggravating his sore ankle. That could also be the case for veteran Al Horford. Ben Simmons continues to be out as well after having surgery on his left knee earlier this week.
The Sixers likely won’t have any problem giving Raul Neto and Furkan Korkmaz all the playing time they can handle against the Rockets. Neto played 27 minutes and finished with 17 points and 5 assists, while Korkmaz went 5 of 9 from the 3-point land and got 21 points against the Raptors.
PREDICTIONS:
This is a game that’s not easy to predict what’s going to happen with plenty of player statuses up in the air, but let’s just say that the Sixers’ bench has played better than Houston’s since Disney World became the center of basketball.
We’re taking the Sixers to win this game, 115-113.
