PHILADELPHIA — The Sixers and Hawks are tied 2-2 in their second-round series and Wednesday night brings a pivotal contest between the two clubs.
The franchise believes that the team’s Game 4 loss was a blown opportunity, though the Sixers are “locked-in” ahead of Game 5, as Dwight Howard told FortyEightMinutes.com and other media in Philadelphia.
Howard, who previously played for the Hawks, said he’s still friendly with some members of the team, though the center indicated that the friendliness doesn’t extend to the court.
“Those guys in Atlanta are my friends away from basketball. But, now they’re trying to end my season and take away my trophy, our trophy,” Howard explained. “So, for our team, we gotta put our foot on their neck and don’t let up.”
Enjoy up to $2000 in risk-free bets at PointsBet (NJ, IA, IL only). Promo code: MVPBet
Hawks-Sixers Odds
Game 5
- Spread: Sixers -6.5
- Total: 223.5
- Moneyline: Hawks +210
Series Price
- Sixers: -310
- Hawks +240
Odds via PointsBet
More From Philadelphia
- Joel Embiid is listed as questionable for Game 5 but Howard said he expects Embiid to not only play but to “dominate.”
- Ben Simmons spoke after Game 4 about how he needed to be more aggressive, though Doc Rivers doesn’t see Simmons’ lack of scoring as a major concern. “I couldn’t disagree with that more…not as far as shooting or anything like that,” Rivers told FortyEightMinutes and other media on Tuesday.
- When the Sixers’ series was first announced, the Sixers were given -190 odds, or an implied 65.5% chance to win the series. After four games (despite a 2-2 split) the Sixers have seen their odds jump to -300 or an implied 75% chance to win the series, as OddsChecker indicates. Meanwhile, the Hawks have seen their odds lengthen from +160 to +240, or an implied chance change of 38.5% to 29.4%. However, bettors don’t see things much differently: the Sixers are not only the bettors’ favorite to win the series, but bettors have placed five times more bets on the 76ers to win the NBA Championship.
