Fantasy basketball and NBA betting cheat sheet for Wednesday

The ESPN fantasy and betting cheat sheet is your pregame destination for our best intel and data to help you make smart fantasy and wagering decisions. NBA game odds are provided by Caesars Sportsbook and fantasy advice is based on ESPN 10-team leagues.

Jump ahead: Game of the night | Picks and props | Analytics edge

by Jim McCormick and Kyle Soppe

Bonus Brothers: While the Knicks are a double-digit underdog to the Sixers, there's still great intrigue around tonight's first ESPN game, given it's James Harden's home debut. It's also compelling because Philly's team total is set at 116.5 points, while they've averaged 129 points in the two games of the bearded era. Supporting such elite offensive efficiency is the fact that 47% of Philly's possessions have come in the bonus (league average is 24%).

Stock Watch: Sticking in South Philly, we find Matisse Thybulle averaging 9.5 points in the last two games serving as a deft off-ball cutter via Harden. This is still a modest scoring clip, but it's enough to keep him on the floor for heavy minutes, helping those incredible stock (steals + blocks) numbers surface. Rostered in just 6.6% of leagues, Thybulle has collected six steals across the last two games and faces a Knicks team averaging 15 turnovers of the last three.

Trust The Tanking: The Pacers made it clear at the deadline that winning now is not a priority, but Buddy Hield must not have gotten the memo. In his seven games with Indiana, he's averaging 21.1 points (49.6% FG), 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists (18 points, 6 assists and 0 turnovers against these Magic on Monday). Small sample, but extend those averages for an entire season and they'd all be career bests.

Rising Sun: Cameron Johnson (84% available) turns 26 years