Tonight’s must-see TV doubleheader begins (hopefully) with a long-awaited matchup between Joel Embiid and his former Brooklyn Nets teammate, Ben Simmons. Harden, James Kyrie Irving and Seth Curry will also play. Royce O’Neal, who the Nets acquired with the Sixers 2023 draft pick, will play. Kevin Durant will not, as he recovers from an MCL sprain.

Ben Simmons: Following the blockbuster trade involving Daryl Morey and Nets general manager Sean Marks, Brooklyn decided to defer the pick option they acquired from 2022 to 2023.

So the Sixers acquired De’Anthony Melton from Memphis in exchange for their own 2022 draft pick and Danny Green. That left the Nets with the Sixers’ 2023 draft pick, which they later traded for former Jazz wingman O’Neal. We’re still waiting to see if and when the Nets trade their Sixers 2027 first-round pick for more help. They’d be crazy not to, especially with Durant still in his prime.

Given Ben Simmons‘ ongoing back issues and lack of aggression as a scorer, I’m sure the Nets have been disappointed with his return thus far (the latter seems to stem all the way back to his last game as a Sixer). And I’m sure the Sixers are pleased with what James Harden has contributed recently, if not last season. They’re quite good, in case you hadn’t noticed. Perhaps both teams would argue that this was a win-win situation. Maybe, maybe not.

We still don’t know if Joel Embiid will play as of this writing, though ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne says she expects him to.

After witnessing Kyrie Irving virtually single-handedly defeat Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in California the other night, a five-point spread suggests that oddsmakers believe The Process will blow his second chance to face his former teammate in Ben Simmons.

.@ramonashelburne expects Joel Embiid to play tonight and face Ben Simmons for the first time ? ?

Embiid is listed as questionable against the Nets. pic.twitter.com/KibNRa2wJQ

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 25, 2023

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The last time the teams met, Philadelphia handled Kevin Durant, Irving, and Ben Simmons without Embiid, James Harden, or Tyrese Maxey. How did that happen? Tobias Harris had 24 points, De’Anthony Melton had 22, and Paul Reed had a monster 19-point, ten-rebound, two-steal, two-block double-double.

But that was before Reed was benched in favor of Montrezl Harrell and the Nets went on to win 19 of their next 22 games. And, of course, KD suffered an MCL sprain, which will keep him out for at least a couple weeks.

We don’t know the exact status of Embiid’s sore foot. However, it appears to be an ongoing issue. He’s had a good five days off and still appears to be a game time decision. Not ideal.

With this in mind, I’m going with a Single Game Parlay and betting the Sixers alternative line -1.5. (-180). That gives me a real chance to cover the two points if Embiid doesn’t play, and I’ll love my chances if he does. Irving has been on a tear recently. And if the Sixers couldn’t stop Zach LaVine, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or De’Aaron Fox recently, I don’t see why they should have a better chance against an even more talented ball-handler and all-time finisher.

We’re pounding the Irving over 29.5. (-105). Nicolas Claxton has scored 15 points or more in each of his last five games. We’ve charged him with 14 or more offenses (-200). He’ll probably get to that if Embiid suits up, and he’ll probably smash it if Joel can’t or is limited. Our parlay odds currently pay +450, so feel free to stop there.

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But we have #revengegame narratives for the guy Nets fans apparently refer to as Ben Ten. If he’s too scared to dunk on the Sixers, how about him overpassing to the tune of 7.5 assists (+120) and hoping for the fading prestige that a triple-double still brings, so crashing glass (over 7.5 boards, +110). If you stack those two bets on top, we’re now at +2200. If you think James Harden, who leads the NBA in assists per game, can get another 10 assists (over 9.5, -210) we’re at a cool +3000, where our $5 pays out $155.

Shame, Shame, Shame on DraftKings for not allowing us to bet on Ben Simmons hitting two second-half free throws and providing the entire county with a nugget. If Doc Rivers isn’t getting stops, he should try some Hack-a-Clax or Hack-a-Ben.

Play with a few of them, or just smash them all and try to win big. That’s what I’ll be doing. If you hit, you can bet your entire winnings on the Birds this Sunday.

A rematch of one of the most entertaining series of last year’s playoffs, at least before Ja Morant got hurt.

Memphis is 2.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets for first place in the Western Conference. The Warriors are 10.5 games behind. Despite this, the two teams are neck and neck in terms of title odds on DraftKings (+950 for the Grizzlies and +1000 for the reigning champs, respectively). Regardless of how slowly the defending champions start, oddsmakers have a lot of faith in Curry and company, as they should.

Anyone up for a one-game parlay? Let’s go get it.

The Grizzlies have lost three straight games to the Lakers, Suns, and Kings. And now they face an even more difficult task from The Bay. Still, it’s difficult to dismiss this team, especially with Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. back from early-season absences and in rhythm. They’d won 11 in a row prior to this blip. And, at these odds, I think it’s worth betting on them to get back on track.

I’m not sure who will win, and I can’t bring myself to take Memphis’ +150 money line. Pounce if you like it. But I’ll nervously pay for the alternative +6.5 (-165) line if they keep it close. On DraftKings, the Warriors allow the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing shooting guards. So I’m going to go with the over (19.5, -180) for Desmond Bane points.

The Warriors are also in the bottom five against opposing point guards. Teams continue to target Steph Curry on defense. So put that Morant point over (27.5, -155) on. Coming back the other way, Curry’s over 25.5 (-170) feels relatively safe.

On that parlay, we’re now at +500.

If you think Jaren Jackson Jr. will score 14 points or more, you can take the 13.5 over (-185) to boost this to +750. Then we’ll be able to root for a few NBA stars to score in the late-night game.