The following preview was taken from the Basketball Service newsletter. Three weeks into the new NBA season, the BBC Basketball service has made a great start..........bets 33/ stakes 33 units/ strike rate 59.38 % / ROI 18.7 %. Follow this link and join the basketball advice service.

Philadelphia 76ers - Miami Heat

Recommendation: Heat – 4.5

Odds: 2.02

Bookmaker: Pin

Stake: 1 unit (flat staking)

It looks like the optimism among Philly fanbase was a bit hasty before the season. Embiid is playing really great, albeit on limited minutes (20+ minutes per game as per doctor’s orders) but Okafor’s production has dipped way below last season’s level. Sixers won over another woeful team, Phoenix, in their last home game, so 2 wins in a row would be a bit over the fence for them.

Miami has given up on the season in terms of big goals, play-off spot hunting, etc. Yet I doubt they will tank on purpose, at least not so early. You never know indeed, maybe the 8th spot in East will be reachable for them, come April.

Heat had a bad spell but have upped their level in the last 4 games, behind good performances from their 2 best players, Whiteside and Dragic. They lost to San Antonio and Atlanta but both games were close (by 4 and 3 points respectively) and there was no shame in these losses. Two consecutive victories followed, a dominant one over Milwaukee, and a high scoring entertaining road win over Wizards.

Well, both Bucks and Wizards are not world-beaters at all, yet Philly are lesser team than both. I see Miami as a clear favourite here and the spread is quite nice indeed.