Who would’ve thought that at the two-week mark of the 2025-26 regular season, the Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls would be the top two teams in the Eastern Conference?
Both squads are 5-1 heading into Tuesday’s meeting in Chicago, although they are coming off very different performances on Sunday.
Philly picked up a blowout road win over the Brooklyn Nets behind big games from Kelly Oubre Jr. and Tyrese Maxey while the Bulls dropped their first game of the season against the New York Knicks.
Chicago has still been impressive this season, ranking in the top 10 in the league in offensive rating and net rating even though oddsmakers expected the Bulls to be a play-in team coming into the 2025-26 season.
Meanwhile, Philly is attempting to get through the regular season healthy after a disaster of a 2024-25 season. Maxey has played at an All-NBA level with Joel Embiid already missing a few games and playing on a minutes restriction early in the campaign.
Let’s take a look at the odds, my favorite prop bet and a prediction for Tuesday night’s matchup.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Spread
Moneyline
Total
76ers Injury Report
Bulls Injury Report
76ers Best NBA Prop Bet
Earlier today, I shared in SI Betting’s best NBA props column why Maxey is a great bet against Chicago:
This season, Tyrese Maxey has at least 26 points in every game, and he’s averaging 33.7 points per game heading into Tuesday night’s matchup with Chicago.
The Bulls are off to a strong start this season, winning five of their first six games, but they were just torched by point guard Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks for 29 and 31 points in back-to-back games over the weekend.
That sets up well for Maxey, who has been the driving force for Philadelphia – even when Joel Embiid is in action. Maxey has taken at least 16 shots in every game this season, averaging 22.7 field goal attempts per game.
That gives him a terrific floor when it comes to this prop, and I think he can have a big scoring game against a Chicago team that is 26th in the NBA in opponent points in the paint per game and 14th in opponent points per game overall.
Chicago’s 5-1 start has been impressive, but I’m not sold on the Bulls suddenly being one of the top teams in the East.
While Philly’s 5-1 start is also surprising, this is a possible outcome for the team if Embiid and others can stay healthy for the majority of the season. With Embiid and Jared McCain expected to play on Tuesday, I’m shocked to see Philly set as a slight underdog on the road in this matchup.
The Sixers are 3-0 against the spread on the road this season, posting an average scoring margin of +10.0 points in those games. On top of that, Philly has a ton of options to attack the paint with Embiid playing against a Chicago team that is 26th in the league in opponent points in the paint per game.
The Bulls have won some quality games to start the season, but they also were blown out by the New York Knicks on Sunday. I like this talented Sixers team to earn the win on the road on Tuesday night.
Pick: Sixers Moneyline (-105 at DraftKings)
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.
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