Coming off a brutal loss to the Bulls on Tuesday, in which the 76ers led by as many as 24 points, the 76ers have ruled out Joel Embiid (injury recovery) for Wednesday’s matchup vs. the Cavaliers. Also, Paul George (knee) will remain sidelined, Jared McCain (injury recovery) will be out after making his season debut Tuesday, and Dominic Barlow (elbow) will miss his sixth in a row.
Philadelphia has been very cautious with Embiid this season, with the former MVP only logging 22.8 minutes per game, which has resulted in 17.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, which are both easily career-lows. The 76ers are 2-0 with the center inactive this season, and in those contests, Adem Bona ($4,500) started in Embiid’s place, which should be the case again Wednesday.
More importantly, Tyrese Maxey ($10,000) should garner a massive role and his stellar start to the season should continue. Maxey ranks second in the NBA with 34.4 PPG and, with Embiid off the floor, Maxey’s usage rate rises 1.2 percentage points to 31% this season. Blossoming rookie VJ Edgecombe ($7,500) will also benefit from an expanded workload, as with Embiid off court this season, Edgecombe’s usage rate increases a team-high 3.9 percentage points to 23.6%. While Maxey and Edgecombe are going against a stout Cleveland team that ranks sixth in defensive rating, both guards have GPP appeal for DFS on DraftKings.
After opening as a 9.5-point favorite, the Cavaliers have moved to a 10.5-point favorite over 76ers on DraftKings Sportsbook following Embiid being ruled out.
