Trail Blazers Host 76ers on Sunday

76ers are Banged up Heading into Portland

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Portland Trail Blazers will meet on Sunday at Moda Center. The 76ers may be battling tonight without a key piece to their lineup.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, NBCS Northwest (Portland), Line: Portland -1.5; O/U: 223.

Philadelphia could be without star center Joel Embiid when they continue their five-game road trip Sunday. Embiid recorded 23 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots in Thursday's 114-97 win at Utah. He missed Saturday's practice due to knee pain and might sit out his first game of the season due to injury.

Mike Muscala likely would start in place of Embiid for Philadelphia. They are 1-1 on their road trek and have won seven of its last 12 road games. This is a great turnaround after opening 0-5 away from home. The Trail Blazers won at Golden State on Thursday before falling to the Warriors at home two days later. Damian Lillard racked up 40 points in the 115-105 loss for Portland. The game began a stretch where they play seven of eight and 13 of 19 at home.

The 76ers are 23-13 on the season. Ben Simmons recorded his 17th career triple-double in the win over the Jazz. Simmons is averaging 17 points, 10.9 rebounds and 8.3 assists this month. J.J. Redick continued his hot stretch with 24 points while making 6-of-9 3-pointers. Muscala is heading in the other direction. He has gone 4-for-16 from long range over the same span while missing his only two-point attempt.

The Trail Blazers are 20-16 on the season. Portland received very little from its bench on the front end of its back-to-back set against the Warriors. Eight reserves combined to produce 14 points on 5-of-21 shooting. Lillard was on the court for 39 minutes. This was after playing 41 at Golden State. He has struggled with zero days of rest between games, and it is drastic. He is averaging 19 points on 41.1 percent shooting compared to 28.1 on 45.6 percent in all other contests. Jusuf Nurkic averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds in the home-and-home set. He has registered four double-doubles over his last five games.

PREDICTION: Trail Blazers 109, 76ers 100

NBA Betting Odds & Trends

Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers are 14-6 SU in its last 20 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 6 games
The 76ers are 6-14 ATS in its last 20 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 16 of Philadelphia's last 24 games on the road
Philadelphia is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Portland
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 6 games when playing Portland
The 76ers are 1-7 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Portland
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Philadelphia's last 10 games when playing on the road against Portland

Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers are 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Portland's last 6 games
The Trail Blazers 5-2 SU in its last 7 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Portland's last 15 games at home
Portland is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Portland's last 6 games when playing Philadelphia
The Trail Blazers 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Philadelphia
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Portland's last 10 games when playing at home against Philadelphia

Next up:
Philadelphia at Los Angeles Tuesday, January 1
Portland at Sacramento Tuesday, January 1

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