Philadelphia 76ers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Preview and Prediction (3/15/23)
Moneyline: 76ers -140, Cavaliers +120
Spread: 76ers -2.5, Cavaliers +2.5
Total: 222
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Odds Breakdown
Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers will be making a trip to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers.
Philadelphia is coming into this game as the favorite at -2.5, and the over/under is sitting at 222 points. Along with that, the moneyline is sitting at -140 for Philadelphia and +120 for Cleveland.
Philadelphia 76ers Preview
Philadelphia is coming into this game at 45-22, which has them sitting at third place in the eastern conference.
In their last game, the 76ers ended up getting a 19 point victory over the Washington Wizards. The biggest thing for them in that game was Joel Embiid’s performance, where he put up 34 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. James Harden also had a great performance, where he continued to share the ball well with 14 assists. In fact, this has been one of the best years of his career when it comes to passing the ball, as he is averaging nearly 11 assists per game. With how he is sharing the ball, he will definitely end up creating some problems for the Cavaliers in this one.
Going into this game, the 76ers will probably hope that they get off to the same start in this game as they did in their last matchup against Cleveland, where at one point they were up by 21 points in the first quarter. The Cavaliers did get very close to making a comeback late in the fourth quarter, but Philadelphia was able to cling to a 118-112 victory. This game might be a bit more difficult for the 76ers to win just because of how good the Cavaliers have been at home this season with a record of 28-7 at home, but this should be a very good game either way.
Cleveland Cavaliers Preview
Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers are coming into this game at 44-27, and that has them sitting at fourth in the eastern conference.
The main thing in this game for the Cavaliers is that they need to improve on how they start this game. As said before, Cleveland fell behind by 21 points just in the first quarter in their last matchup with Philadelphia. They did try to come back, and that has been a common theme for Cleveland this season, as they have had 14 victories this year where they were down by at least 10 points at some time in the game. It would be much easier for Cleveland if they didn’t fall behind in most games they play, so it would be best for them to clean that up a little bit. But, they may not have to worry about that too much if their bench can sustain themselves, because they didn’t get great bench production in their last game against the 76ers. However, in Cleveland’s last game in Charlotte, they were able to get some good bench production, especially from Cedi Osman, who put up 24 points, two rebounds, and three assists. If he could do something like that again, he could put the Cavaliers in a very good position to take this game from Philadelphia.
Going into this game, the biggest problem for Cleveland is that they might be without their defensive anchor in Jarrett Allen after he got hit in the eye last Friday against the Miami Heat. Jarrett Allen makes a big difference for the Cavaliers on defense, as he improves their defensive rating greatly. When Jarrett Allen is available for Cleveland, they have a defensive rating of 111.6, and when he is out, they have a defensive rating of 108.2. And with possibly him out, that leaves the question on how Joel Embiid will be contained. He’s already very difficult for players to slow down, but without one of your best defenders, it will be even tougher. They still have Evan Mobley down low, but it still will not be easy to contain Embiid.
