25* graded play on Philadelphia as they take on Memphis in NBA action set to start at 8:05 PM ET. 76ers have lost three straight games for the first time this season, but have actually increased their Atlantic division lead over the Boston Celtics to 4 ½ games. Boston, as I wrote yesterday, and presented in the Podcast, just cannot get their act together and play with any sort of sustained chemistry and flow at either end of the court. In fact, the Knicks have pulled even with the Celtics and because they own the tie-breakers against Boston, they now are in second place in the Atlantic division. So, despite a three-game losing streak all things remain well in Philadelphia. The 76ers are also coming off a nasty loss to Minnesota, where they were arguably lost to the referee, who made a horrendous call with less than one-second left in the game. This certainly had head coach Doug Collins very upset and rightfully so and can serve to motivate his team to go out and make sure no one, but the team, gets them the win tonight. Philadelphia has the best scoring defense in the NBA and their offense is steadily climbing the charts with each passing week. They rank best in scoring defense allowing 87.3 point per game and 13th in scoring offense at 94.8 points per game. The 76ers defense is strong defending the fast break and power schemes in the paint. They rank best in the NBA allowing 9.5 fast break points per game, and fifth allowing 37.4 points per in the paint. The Philadelphia defense matches up very well against the strengths of the Memphis offensive schemes. Memphis is a fast break oriented team ranking third in the NBA scoring 16.9 points off of fast break scoring opportunities and third scoring 45.2 points in the paint. I strongly believe that the 76ers, as they have all season, will reduce Memphis to a struggling offensive team that will have extreme difficulty executing the half court sets. I don’t see the Memphis fast break being a factor at all int his game. My proprietary sports handicapping database and simulator shows a high probability that the 76ers will win this game by three or more points. Supporting this graded play is a system that has produced a record of 24-6 for 80% winners since 2006. Play on all teams in February games where the line is +3 to -3 and is a good team winning between 60% to 75% of their games and now playing a marginal winning team winning 51% to 60% of their games. Sim shows a high probability that the 76ers will score between 93 and 98 points. 76ers are 8-1 ATS when they score 93 to 98 points in a game this season. Take the Philadelphia 76ers.