Philadelphia 76ers vs Houston Rockets Prediction, 5/5/2021 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Philadelphia 76ers vs Houston Rockets

Date: Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Location: Toyota Center in Houston, TX

TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia

Odds/Point Spread: Philadelphia (-8.5)

The Philadelphia 76ers (44-21) are headed to Toyota Center on Wednesday where they'll meet the Houston Rockets (16-49). The line on this contest has Philadelphia as 8.5-point favorites. The O/U opens at 227.

The Philadelphia 76ers played the Chicago Bulls and walked away with a win by a score of 106-94 in their last game. Philadelphia ended the game having earned a 53.3% field goal percentage (40 out of 75) and knocked down 11 of 28 3-pointers. At the charity stripe, the 76ers made 15 of 21 shots for a rate of 71.4%. In terms of grabbing boards, they collected 44 with 7 of them being offensive. They also doled out 23 assists for this game while forcing the other team into 15 turnovers and having 11 steals. With respect to defense, Philadelphia allowed the other team to go 41.4% from the field on 36 out of 87 shooting. Chicago distributed 25 dimes and had 7 steals for the contest. Furthermore, Chicago totaled 40 rebounds (12 offensive, 28 defensive) and had 6 rejections. Chicago finished shooting 78.6% from the charity stripe by knocking down 11 of their 14 attempts. They also knocked down 11 of their 34 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Tobias Harris is someone who was a major factor in the game. He notched 21 points on 10 out of 13 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 34:37 mins and also totaled 9 boards. Harris ended up shooting 76.9% from the floor and distributed 3 dimes. An additional guy that was a determining factor in this game for the 76ers was Seth Curry. He had 4 rebounds in his 35:10 minutes played on the night. He walked away from this one shooting 70.0% from the field in this contest by shooting 7-of-10 (20 points). When the final whistle was blown, Curry accounted for 4 assists.

Philadelphia will play this game with a mark of 44-21 this season. They currently have an average of 113.6 points per game (12th in the league) while shooting 47.6% from the field. The 76ers are connecting on 37.1% on shots from beyond the arc (722 of 1,944) and 76.2% from the free throw line. As a unit, Philadelphia is snagging 45.4 rebounds per game and has racked up 1,518 dimes on the year, which is 24th in the league in terms of passing. They turn it over 14.7 times per game and as a squad they are committing 20.2 fouls every game. When they are on defense, the 76ers are forcing their opponents into 15.6 turnovers per contest while drawing 21.2 personal fouls. The 76ers defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 45.3% (1,016 of 1,377) and they surrender 42.7 rebounds per game as a team. They are currently ranked 5th in basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 1,520 conceded on the year. They give up 36.3% from beyond the arc and they rank 5th in the NBA in points per game from their opponents (108.2).

When they last played, the Houston Rockets took a loss by a score of 122-97 when they faced the New York Knicks. The Rockets were able to collect 33 defensive boards and 14 offensive rebounds for a total of 47 for the contest. They turned it over 17 times, while earning 6 steals in this game. The Knicks had 21 personal fouls for the contest which got the Rockets to the charity stripe for 32 attempts. They were able to bury 21 of the free throws for a rate of 65.6%. Pertaining to shots from 3-point land, Houston converted 8 of their 35 attempts (22.9%). When the game finished, the Rockets shot 34 out of 79 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 43.0%. The Rockets allowed the Knicks to bury 45 of 86 tries from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 52.3% in the game. They went 51.4% from three-point range via 18 out of 35 and ended up going 14 out of 16 at the charity stripe (87.5%). In the matter of how they cleaned up the glass, Houston allowed New York to snag 38 overall (6 on the offensive glass).

Christian Wood was important for the Rockets in the matchup. He buried 6 of 14 for this game giving him a field goal percentage of 42.9%, and accumulated 8 rebounds. Wood recorded 19 points in his 35:13 minutes on the hardwood and had 3 dimes in this game. An additional guy that ended up playing a role for Houston was Kelly Olynyk. He finished with 7 dimes in his 35:58 mins on the hardwood, and he put in 5 out of 10 from the floor. Olynyk ended up shooting 50.0% from the floor as well as collecting 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Houston has a win-loss record of 16-49 this year. Houston has totaled 7,001 pts so far this season (107.7 per game) and they grab 42.8 boards per contest. The Rockets are committing 19.5 fouls per contest and they hit 73.8% from the charity stripe. As an offense, the Rockets are shooting 44.1% from the field, which ranks 29th in the NBA. They are assisting teammates 23.0 times per game (25th in the league) and they lose possession via turnover 14.8 times per contest. The Rockets on defense are ranked 26th in basketball in points given up per game with 115.4. They have forced 14.8 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 47.4% from the field (24th in the league). The Houston defense concedes 38.0% from downtown (874 of 2,297) and their opponents are connecting on 78.0% of their shots from the charity stripe. They allow 25.4 dimes and 47.7 boards per game, which is 20th and 30th in the NBA.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Philadelphia (-8.5)

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here