I was optically assaulted this morning on the timeline by sports book oddsmakers supremely underestimating the Sixers. I mean, look at this:

WOW. I know the saying “Vegas knows all” exists for a reason, but this may be the exception that proves the rule. Sure, losing a game at home to the Hawks with Joel Embiid does not look good at all on paper, but it’s deeper than that. 

The Hawks were historically good from three, hitting 20 of them in Game 1. Most of those were wide-open looks created by Trae Young immediately flambeing Danny Green, causing our defense to collapse. We flipped the script on them in the second half. 

It’s like people forget what happened when we played the hawks towards the end of the regular season. In the first game, they had no Trae Young, and we won by 44. In the second game, Trae came back to try and avenge the blowout he missed. That game ended with the Sixers winning by 20. 

The Hawks were excellent in the first half of Game 1; there’s no denying that. They shot 72% from the field in the first quarter, for god sake. However, if your best performance ends with you folding under pressure in the fourth quarter and winning by four, that does not bode well for a seven-game series. 

For that reason, I am pretty surprised with these odds out of Las Vegas. It seems pretty clear the Sixers still control this series. The only explanation I can think of is the legal marijuana situation in Nevada. The sticky icky gets stronger every year, and I doubt a Las Vegas oddsmaker is anti-kush. 

Honestly, these dummies releasing these betting lines serve as a pretty compelling argument against the legalization of marijuana. If it can impact their ability to do their jobs this much – it’s basically robbed them of their competence – lord knows what else it will do to our society.

Regardless, go throw big money down on the Sixers. They’re going to clap the Hawks tomorrow night, and Vegas will snap out of their grass-enabled daze and move the line big time to cover their losses.

Listen to The Wolves of Broad St

Mandatory Credit: Wall Street Journal