Posted at 10:30 AM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle O219½ -107 BET365 O219½ -110 Sportsinteraction O220½ -105 888Sport O219½ -117

Philadelphia/Milwaukee over 219½

Best Odds: -107 at Pinnacle

8:10 PM EST. The Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks enter Thursday with very similar experiences in their last contests. Philly was riding high after a big defensive win against the Knicks this past Sunday, and then on Tuesday they finally got Tyrese Maxey back after he cleared concussion protocol. You'd think that would be a recipe for a better offense performance than their 79-point showing four days ago, but it didn't come to be. Maxey struggled in his first game back, going just 6-14 from the field, and the Knicks took such a commanding early lead that Philadelphia seemed to quit halfway through the third quarter. For the second game in a row, they only scored 79 points.

That doesn't exactly give bettors confidence when they consider betting 76ers' totals to go over, but we expect significant regression tonight. For starters, since Joel Embiid went down with a meniscus tear on January 30th, the Sixers have averaged 107 ppg. Is that impressive? No, but rule out their last few stinkers without Maxey and that number is 111, a more respectable and more indicative number of who they really are. It also helps that their opponent isn't exactly a defensive powerhouse these days.

The Bucks' defense improved significantly after the All-Star break, ascending to the best unit in the NBA over their first 4 games back on the hardwood, but since then we've seen another sharp decline. Milwaukee has sank to 24th overall the last two weeks, regressing back to the same frustrating team that Glen "Doc" Rivers inherited not long ago, relying too much on the offensive prowess of their roster, which, to be fair, is typically enough to stack up wins. Because of their recent form, we've seen some very high totals lately - 245, 241, and 223 in their last three contests, and we shouldn't really even count the last one since Milwaukee only offered 98 points in that affair (a solid 22 points below their average). Milwaukee is also one of the fastest teams in the NBA when they're at home, ranking 4th overall. We don't hate that for our position.

This total can't make up its mind and that makes sense after what we've seen from these two programs lately, particularly Philly. It opened at 224½ at some books, and now it's down to as low as 219 at others. We're not deterred. Nick Nurse and Glen Rivers are among the most experienced and winningest coaches in the NBA, even if the latter can't sniff a playoff series victory to save his life. Regardless, what do you think the two ol' ball coaches are emphasizing heading into this big Eastern Conference showdown? After some of the most piss-poor outings for both offenses two days ago, that's an obvious answer. Maxey should look worlds better in his second game back, and the Bucks can rely on a top-5 home offense to put it on their competition tonight. This number has dropped too low.

Farley

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