The Philadelphia 76ers are coming off a controversial loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, where referees, by their own admission, blew a call on the final drive that may have flipped the entire result.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, meanwhile, are trying to bounce back from a discouraging loss to the lowly Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, as they’ve fallen behind the New York Knicks in the race for the third seed in the East.
Every win is crucial down the stretch in the jumbled-up Eastern Conference, with the 76ers desperate to increase their NBA odds of avoiding the Play-In Tournament and the Cavs hoping to escape the Boston Celtics’ side of the bracket.
My free NBA picks for 76ers vs. Cavaliers on Friday, March 29 detail Cleveland’s fit issues and why they’ve been less than the sum of their parts, even at full strength.
76ers vs Cavaliers predictions
My best bet: 76ers +8.5 (-110 at bet365)
The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the more difficult teams to puzzle out as we head down the stretch of the regular season.
Like many other teams, they’ve been banged up, with a bevy of star players missing significant time, including Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley at different points. But what makes the Cavs such a strange and compelling case is that they’ve played better when less healthy, or more specifically, when certain players have been.
By far the best the Cavs have played this season has been when Mitchell was the sole lead guard and when Jarrett Allen was the only non-shooting big. Surrounding those two with shooters and defenders like Dean Wade and Max Strus, Cleveland was cooking opposing teams on offense and stifling them on the other end.
The spacing of the Mobley and Allen pairing is particularly problematic. Allen has been dynamite on both ends this year, and while Mobley has had his moments, he has not shown the requisite growth on the perimeter to make their partnership work. With Allen on the court the Cavs dominate, with Mobley on with or without Allen, they merely tread water.
With Mitchell and Garland, they’re small, attackable guards on defense. That’s fine if they maximize each other on offense to make up for it, but rather than being additive, their skills are duplicative. Both mostly play better without the other.
That’s problematic because they’re all starters, and by stature within the team, deserving closers as well. The Cavs don’t always play the groups that, strictly speaking, give them the best chance to win any individual game.
Mitchell is the key to it all, however. He’s their best scorer and playmaker, who can generate looks in isolation against great defenses as well as rain death from the 3-point line. His status for Friday’s matchup is genuinely TBD, but I am skeptical he will make a true impact on the game.
Spida is officially questionable following nasal surgery, but Brian Windhorst of ESPN has previously reported that Mitchell may still be slowed by his lingering knee injury. Evidently, his knee did not respond well to receiving a PRP injection, and the bone bruise is still an issue,
Mitchell missed seven games with that injury before returning for two games on March 13 and 16, and he did not look right. While he was hitting the three fine, he didn’t have his usual burst inside the arc and was struggling to score against size. He went just 2-12 from inside the arc and played fewer than 27 minutes in both games.
An absent or diminished Mitchell makes this game much more competitive, as does the absence of Wade who has been a critical 3-and-D big in many of Cleveland's best units.
The Philadelphia 76ers, for their part, have shown a level of fight and toughness in this most recent stretch and should have enough to make things competitive against this version of the Cavs.
76ers vs Cavaliers same-game parlay
76ers +8.5
Tobias Harris Under 15.5 points
Tobias Harris Under 1.5 threes
While the 76ers have hung tough recently without Joel Embiid, that has largely been in spite of Tobias Harris’ play.
Ostensibly, Harris is billed as the 76ers third-best offensive player, but his impact on a nightly basis varies from marginal (he’s averaged 14.3 points over his last 10) to non-existent (he scored just two points against the New York Knicks in that stretch). He’s only averaging 0.9 threes made over his last 10 games on just 24.3% shooting.
Harris isn’t a bad player. He shoots decently from most spots on the court, and his 6-foot-9 size makes him a valuable matchup hunter.
He’s become allergic to aggressive play, and most nights you’re left wondering why he didn’t demand the ball more. With Cleveland still sporting one of the best interior defenses in the NBA, I expect him to come up short again tonight.
Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.
76ers vs Cavaliers odds and trends
76ers vs Cavaliers opening odds
- Spread: Philadelphia +7.5 (-110) | Cleveland -7.5 (-110)
- Moneyline: Philadelphia +265 | Cleveland -330
- Over/Under: Over 210 (-110) | Under 210 (-110)
76ers vs Cavaliers spread and Over/Under analysis
- The Cavaliers opened as -7.5 favorites against the visiting 76ers, and that’s grown to -8.5 at most sportsbooks.
- The 76ers are 6-4 against the spread in their last 10, Cleveland is 4-6.
- The total opened at 210.5 and action on the Over has seen that tick up as high as 212 as of late Friday morning.
- The Over is 20-15-1 in Cleveland home games.
76ers vs Cavaliers betting trend to know
The 76ers are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games. Find more NBA betting trends for 76ers vs. Cavaliers.
76ers vs Cavaliers game info
| Location: | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH |
| Date: | Friday, March 29, 2024 |
| Tip-off: | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| TV: | NBCS-PHI, Bally Ohio |
Not intended for use in MA.
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