Back a low scoring game between the 76ers and Hornets in Friday night’s game

The 76ers meet the Hornets on Friday night looking to go 3-0 against Charlotte on the season.

While oddsmakers have made them prohibitive 11.5-point home favorites, can we really count on them to find success against anybody right now, even the 15-44 Hornets?

Let’s take a closer look at these two teams and their matchup Friday night at Wells Fargo Center and find a betting edge.

Odds via FanDuel

Joel Embiid has missed 14 of the last 15 games for Philadelphia due to a knee injury, and as a result, the 76ers find themselves in freefall as we begin March.

The Sixers have posted a 4-11 record in their last 15 games, with their only wins in that span coming against the Jazz, Wizards and Cavaliers (twice).

The forecast in Philadelphia doesn’t appear to be clearing up anytime soon, as Embiid will remain sidelined for the foreseeable future, and the Sixers continue to play like one of the worst teams in basketball without him.

They rank 23rd in offensive rating and 29th in defensive rating since Jan. 26 – an enormous dropoff for a team that ranks top-12 in both categories on the season.

To be fair, the back half of February wasn’t exactly a cakewalk for the Sixers as they drew matchups against the Heat, Knicks, Cavaliers, Bucks and Celtics in their five contests leading up to Friday night’s game.

However, they aren’t losing these games gracefully. For Sixers fans, they’re losing them in incredibly frustrating fashion.

The Sixers have scored 104 or fewer points in five straight games while shooting 42% from the field and 34% from 3-point range in those contests, which ranks in the bottom eight in the NBA in both categories during that span.

They should have a chance to move a step in the right direction as double-digit favorites versus the Hornets, who rank 28th in both offensive and defensive rating this season.

I still wouldn’t necessarily fade the Hornets in this matchup. They are playing their best basketball of the season right now, winning five of their last eight games, accounting for more than a third of their wins on the season.

The smarter play is to fade both offenses.

The Hornets have scored fewer than 100 points in four straight games, and they’ve played to the under in seven straight contests.

Similarly, the Sixers have scored 104 or fewer points in their last five games, which led to the total going under in all five of those affairs.

The low-scoring trends should continue for these two teams tonight. Give me the under.

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