76ers vs Raptors Picks and Predictions: Siakam Thrives Against Philly's Lazy D

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors will meet for the first time since their intense first-round playoff series last April when they begin a two-game set in Toronto starting Wednesday night.

The Sixers won that series in six games but ultimately fell short of their championship aspirations, losing in the following round. And while the offseason went as smoothly as possible for Joel Embiid & Co., that seems like a distant memory after their 1-3 start.

Meanwhile, the Raptors have navigated a tough early-season schedule for a 2-2 record and have been competitive in every game. Can Toronto continue that trend even with star sophomore Scottie Barnes questionable?

Additionally, Pascal Siakam has been so hot to start the season he may be worthy of multiple bets in this matchup. I break it all down in my NBA picks and predictions for 76ers vs. Raptors.

76ers vs Raptors best odds

76ers vs Raptors picks and predictions

The pleasantries of the offseason are over and attitudes are turning sour quickly after a 1-3 start for the Sixers. They’re just lucky the Phillies are in the World Series and the Eagles are undefeated or the noise around this team could be much worse.

Philly basically got run over by Boston, got shut down by Milwaukee, and most stunning of all, lost to a San Antonio team that is ready to print Victor Wembanyama jerseys already.

A win over the lowly Indiana Pacers has held back the jackals for the moment, but things have been ugly for this Sixers team, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. Philly ranks 21st in defensive rating and 28th in rebounding percentage and opponent 3-point attempts per game.

That reads a lot like a lack of effort. And yes, it’s early in the season, but that’s not the mentality you want going against this high-motor Toronto Raptors team. On top of that, it feels like the Sixers will have a tough time slowing down the red-hot Pascal Siakam.

Spicy P is living up to his nickname, building off his All-NBA performance from a year ago. Siakam is averaging 26.5 points, 10 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game so far this season, and outside of the aging PJ Tucker, the Sixers are lacking guys who can defend Siakam’s versatility.

Siakam also had plenty of success last season against Philly. In three regular-season games, he averaged 30.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists, while over six playoff games he still averaged a respectable 22.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.8 assists.

He is a matchup problem for the Sixers and I don’t expect that to change tonight against a Philly team that is sucking wind on defense right now.

So, that’s why I’ve got two spicy bets for Pascal in this one: Over 33.5 points + rebounds and Over 1.5 made threes, both at plus money.

He’s gone over this points + rebounds total twice this season and in all three regular-season games he played against the Sixers last season. Siakam has also hit two or more threes twice this season and is attempting 4.3 per game, making this an obvious value play.

Best bet: Pascal Siakam Over 33.5 points + rebounds (+110)

Best bet: Pascal Siakam Over 1.5 made threes (+160)

76ers vs Raptors spread analysis

The Raptors were picked by many to finish in the play-in range of the standings in the East and some of these early spreads are saying that may have been an oversight.

Toronto was just a 2.5-point underdog on the road against Brooklyn, 3.5-point underdogs in their games at Miami, and are just 1.5-point home pups for this matchup tonight. That’s a lot of respect against teams that are among the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. 

And if the Sixers don’t up their effort, they could be in trouble against this high-motor Raptors team.

That said, Toronto isn’t without its flaws, particularly, its half-court offense. This team just lacks deadeye shooters outside of Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. And as a result, the offense can get stagnant and go through cold streaks at times. Hence the Raptors' 22nd-ranked offensive rating. 

That showed up in their loss to Brooklyn. They went through a few too many stretches in which only Siakam and VanVleet were scoring, which allowed the Nets’ stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to take over down the stretch.

And the Sixers certainly have star power in Joel Embiid and James Harden. Both are putting up solid numbers to start the season with Embiid averaging 26.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, with nearly two blocks per game while Harden is going for 26.8 points, 9.8 assists, and 8.5 rebounds.

That said, the Raptors have a good shot to win this game if a few of their other rotation pieces get hot from deep against a Sixers defense that giving up a ton of looks from 3-point range, but if the Raps have a poor shooting night, Philly has a much better ability to hit a key shot when needed. I just see too much variance in the possible results for this game so I’ll stay away from the spread.

76ers vs Raptors Over/Under analysis

While I’m using caution with the spread, I’m definitely leaning more toward one side of the total. This number hit the board at 215.5 and is already as low as 211.5 at some shops. And I’d have to say I agree with the money.

That’s for a few reasons. One is, of course, the Raptors' inconsistent half-court offense. Not only do they rank 22nd in offensive rating, but their 105 points per game ranks 27th. Now, some of that can be attributed to the level of competition they have faced, but that remains the same in this matchup.

Then there is the Raptors' suffocating defense. They are long, athletic, and can switch on almost anyone. They are fourth in the league in steals and 10th in defensive rating. They also saw how a similarly-long team in the Milwaukee Bucks did an excellent job of forcing the Sixers off the 3-point line and when they did get shots off, they were contested. Philly went just 5-for-24 from deep in that game and the Raps are more than capable of doing something similar.

On top of that, the Raptors and 76ers rank 27th and 30th in the NBA respectively when it comes to pace. This game has a chance to not crack 200 total points.

76ers vs Raptors betting trend to know

The Under is 10-4 in the last 14 meetings between these two teams in Toronto. Find more NBA betting trends for 76ers vs. Raptors.

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