I don't know if the Sixers will sweep the Raptors on Saturday, but I do know that I wish I bet on them to do so.
The Sixers have gotten off to the best playoff start possible, cruising to two clear home wins before stealing a road game in a contest in which the Sixers played pretty poorly overall. The stage is set for them to send the Raptors to whatever the Canadian equivalent of Cancun is (Nova Scotia?) and end Toronto's season.
I've done okay betting on the Sixers this series. No, I am not some handicapper or a person who's going to try to convince you that they could live in Vegas making a killing doing this. I'm just a man who enjoys hoops and likes to throw in some bets from time to time.
My best bet this round for the Sixers was grabbing a player performance double before Game 1 that had Tyrese Maxey topping 30-plus points and the Sixers to win at +2500 ($10 to win $250). Nice cash on that one!
Here are a few bets I'm looking at for what Sixers fans hope is the team's series finale against the Raptors:
- MORE SIXERS
- Joel Embiid will continue to play with, treat thumb issue during Sixers' playoff run
- Sixers locked in on closeout game with golden opportunity in front of them
- With James Harden on board, the Sixers are slowly starting to figure it out
I could see that happening again on Saturday. After a great 26-point performance on Game 1, Harris has notched double-doubles in the Sixers' last two games. Will he hit that mark in Game 4? I'm banking on it, putting up $15 to win $90 at some solid +600 odds on FanDuel.
Here's a same-game parlay that I threw together:
Joel Embiid to score 30+ points, James Harden to record 8+ assists, Tyrese Maxey to record 20+ points and Harris to grab 8+ rebounds. That's +1200 odds. I'm throwing down $12 (I gamble responsibly!) to potentially win $156.11 on FanDuel.
Embiid is dealing with a thumb injury currently, but the last time he dealt with a significant hand injury, he threw up a 40-point triple-double. I'm not worried about the big fella. I expect him to get his.
Harden has gone from the filthy scorer he was during his peak in Houston to an elite distributor during his short stint with the Sixers. Harden was second in the NBA with 10.3 assists per game this season. His assist totals through the team's first three playoff games: 14, six and 10. It's a reasonable bar for him to clear.
Maxey stole the show to open up the Sixers' series with Toronto, dropping 38 points in Game 1. He followed that up with a 23-point effort in Game 2 before "only" tallying 19 points in Game 3. Again, this isn't an astronomical ask of Maxey. It's just hoping that he continues the path of play he's currently on.
Yeah, I already covered Harris and rebounding above, but the song remains the same.
Another bet I like? This collab between Sixers podcast Rights to Ricky Sanchez and DraftKings:
Green has topped three three-pointers in each of the last two games. He's topped three rebounds in two of the three games this series. There's a revenge game element here given that Green was on the 2019 Raptors team that won the championship. I'm sure that Green enjoys hitting daggers in front of his old fan base. He has that energy to him.
Green to have 10+ points, 3+ rebounds, 3+ threes and the Sixers to win is +350. Not wildly high odds, but it's a sound bet. As it gets closer to tipoff, I might make a small wager on this bad boy.
As always, I'll close with a reminder to bet responsibly.
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