No doubt that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving could single-handedly carry the Nets to the win here, but the Nets are so much thinner at the top of the rotation than the 76ers are with Ben Simmons not yet ready -- I can't wait to hear the reaction he gets -- and LaMarcus Aldridge out. Do you trust Andre Drummond and Nic Claxton to slow Joel Embiid? James Harden likely will go bananas after Durant stiffed him in the All-Star draft. This will definitely have a playoff-type atmosphere, so I have to lean the home team. I'm more confident the Sixers win than the Nets cover, and I'd probably take Brooklyn at +5.5, although both clearly could happen.

The Sixers have scored at least 121 points, and gone over the number, in every game James Harden and Joel Embiid have played together. Trends like that don't go on forever, and a highly anticipated grudge match like Thursday's showdown is a fertile ground for an inflated line. The amount of free throw that Harden and Embiid are racking up and the possibility of Durant and/or Irving going nuts is scary, but I'll take my chances on a 118-113ish game.