Andy Iskoe
Dime Play – 76ers -1.5
They say that all bad things must end. And tonight should be the night Philadelphia ends its winless streatk that stands at 18 straight games to start this season and extends to 28 games dating back to last season. Favored for perhaps the only time this season — or at least no more than a handful of times — the 76ers catch a foe with almost as poor results. The L A Lakers are in town in the first game of the Kobe Bryant farewell tour that begins where he played his high school basketball, making this somewhat of a homecoming for the Laker great. This is the first game of an 8 game road trip for the Lakers who are 2-14 SU and a woeful 5-11 ATS. The Lakers have lost 6 in a row and had been on an 0-5 ATS run prior to their cover in their home loss to Indiana in their most recent game last Friday. Meanwhile the Sixers have been more competitive of late, actually holding several fourth quarter leads before fading late. In fact, Philly has covered 5 straight and is 10-8 ATS for the season. They have also played the third most difficult schedule to date (the Lakers have played the #19 schedule). The conditions are right for the 76ers to earn the first of what may be fewer than 10 wins over the course of the season in tonight’s game against by far the weakest team they will have yet faced this season.