This Popular Game 6 Prop Bet Could Spell Bad News For Celtics

Joel Embiid had one of the best playoff performances in his career during Game 5 against the Boston Celtics, and it’s fair to believe Philadelphia’s chances of advancing to the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday rest largely on the 76ers big man.

The betting public certainly is confident in Embiid entering Game 6.

BetMGM’s John Ewing revealed Thursday morning some nine hours before tipoff that 99% of the bets on Embiid’s point prop are on the Over 29.5. It marks one of the most popular prop bets on the board. If that proves to be the case, it certainly could correlate to bad news for the Green, who enter a win-or-go-home situation at Wells Fargo Center.

Embiid has surpassed 30 points in each of the last three games, the only time he didn’t do so this series being his first game back from a knee injury. Embiid did score 30 points in Boston’s Game 3 win in Philadelphia, for what it’s worth. But his 34 points in Game 4 and 33 points in Game 5 propelled Philadelphia to two straight wins and allowed the group to take a stranglehold on the series.

The Celtics enter the contest as the betting favorite (-2.5) for the sixth straight time. However, they have not been good as the favorite in the series (2-3 against the spread) or throughout the season. No team this season has more straight up losses when they enter the contest as the favorite.

Sixty-five percent of tickets and 59% of the handle are on the 76ers to win the game. A perfect 50-50 split is the case in terms of spread bets, as revealed by BetMGM on Thursday morning.