James Harden has been a winner for the Sixers and bettors since arriving from Brooklyn
The Sixers have won all three games and covered the spread in each since James Harden's debut on Feb. 25. Will that trend continue?
“Fear the Beard” isn’t just some snappy slogan meant to sell $30 T-shirts and fake facial hair accessories. It’s been a way of life for local bookies since James Harden joined the Sixers. They are fearing the beard.
Three wins outright, all three covering the spread. The betting public has feasted.
“It hasn’t been fun on this side of the counter,” said Tom Gable, director of the race & sports book at the Borgata in Atlantic City. “We’re down to +650 to win the title; [we have] liability on them to win the conference and the championship.”
» READ MORE: Harden Mania has taken over Philadelphia
The Sixers were 25-1 in January, and 12-1 just before acquiring Harden on Feb. 10.
PointsBet’s handle for Wednesday night’s game against the Knicks, Harden’s first in Philadelphia, was a staggering 94% on the Sixers.
The four most popular plays on Wednesday night at PointsBet were:
*Sixers laying 10.5. They won by 15.
*Sixers-Knicks over 223 – The final was 123-108
*Sixers money line. Opened at -555, was bet all the way up to -625.
*James Harden over 23.5 points. He had 26.
Jay Croucher, director of trading for PointsBet, says the public is showing “lots of confidence” in the Sixers.
“They see the Sixers as a juggernaut. We’ve seen enough and have shifted the Sixers to outright favorite to win the East,” Croucher said. “They might only be on the same level as Milwaukee and a full-strength Brooklyn, but they have a much cleaner path to a top-2 seed and multiple series with home court advantage.”
It’s obviously a small sample size, so things likely will even out. For one, the lines will get tighter, while the odds and limits get smaller. For another, the Sixers competition will get tougher.
Nine of their next 10 games are against teams in the postseason hunt. Their last two games have been against the Knicks, a team that once had hope, but now sits 12 games below .500.
The Sixers host Cleveland on Friday (7 p.m., NBCSP). They were favored by 2.5 points two weeks ago when they beat the visiting Cavaliers by 10. The opening line offshore for Friday night was Sixers -7 with the total at 220.5.
“Since Harden arrived,” Gable said, “they’ve been covering the spread and going over the total, which has not been good for us.”
Thanks, Coach K
The final season of Mike Krzyzewski’s remarkable tenure at Duke will hit another milestone on Saturday with his final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, against rival North Carolina.
And while we may roll our eyes when he admonishes opposing players, he’s going out on a decent run.
Not talking about his 13th ACC Championship or his club’s eight consecutive road wins. But even better is that the Blue Devils are 17-11-1 against the spread. Their national title odds were 13-1 at FanDuel on Thursday, pretty decent since they’re shaping up as a 2-seed with a chance at a No. 1. FD also had them at +270 to reach the Final Four, and -130 to win the ACC Tournament.
Duke’s 58.1% spread record this year is the highest since they covered 62.2% in 2018-19, according to TeamRankings.com. The Blue Devils were 3.5-point favorites when they won by 20 at Carolina on Feb. 5. That spread figures to be much higher for Saturday’s final home game.
This & That
MBB: Speaking of North Carolina, they’ve covered three of their last four, including one of the most unlikely all season. They were laying 8.5 to Syracuse, which forced overtime after scoring a bucket with two seconds left. UNC outscored the Orange 15-6 in the extra session to cover the spread. It was a horrendous beat for those who had Syracuse, which didn’t score a point in the final 90 seconds of OT.
NBA: NBCSP+ and PointsBet are teaming up for a dual broadcast of the Sixers-Bulls game on March 7 from a wagering standpoint. BetCast will feature Jimmy Lynam alongside Sara Perlman for NBCSP+ while Croucher and Bulls analyst Kendall Gill will track the game from Chicago’s perspective.
PGA: Caesars is holding a $5,000 ticket from a Nevada bettor on Jason Kokrak at 45-1 for this weekend’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. Kokrak won twice on the Tour in 2021, and tied for 8th at last year’s Arnie Invitational. Looks like they’re safe though. He was 2-over after the secondround, eight back of Viktor Hovland.
MBB: The first conference championship game is Saturday night when the Ohio Valley tournament concludes (8:30 p.m., ESPN). Full schedule is below.
And finally
A 5-star salute to the Indianapolis University-Purdue University Indianapolis men’s basketball team which just completed a season almost as convoluted as their exhaustive name.
IUPUI went 3-26 this year, bowing out in the Horizon League first round when injuries and apathy forced them to field a roster of five total players. FIVE. And one of them has a foot injury that soon will require surgery.
The latest example of how difficult it can be to make a living wagering on sports came on Tuesday. IUPUI lost to Oakland, 69-58, but covered the 23.5-point spread. They had five guys, and still covered. Mike DePersia, a junior from Haddonfield High, had nine assists and two turnovers in 40 minutes.
What’s more is that despite generally fulfilling coach Matt Crenshaw’s pledge to drain the shot clock to save on energy, the over of 123.5 points still got home.
For the season, IUPUI had just one win against a Division I opponent. They were 10-17 against the spread (two games were off the board) and the over hit just eight times.
“I’m really proud of my team,” Crenshaw said after the game. “We’ve faced adversity all season long and tonight was no different. There’s no quit in this group. They just keep fighting and fighting. Playing with five [players] is unheard of and those guys went out and fought a really, really good team tonight.”