76ers vs Hornets Picks, Prediction Today | Saturday, Jan. 20

Here's everything you need to know about 76ers vs. Hornets on Saturday, Jan. 20 — our expert prediction and betting picks for today.

Philly will travel to Charlotte to take on a struggling Hornets team on Saturday night. Can Joel Embiid and company take care of business, or do the Hornets have a chance to pull off the home upset?

Let's get to our 76ers vs. Hornets prediction and pick.

Both teams are coming off a back to back here so monitor the injury report. The 76ers should be able to score at will against this awful Hornets defense, as the Hornets are bereft of any competent defensive bigs after losing Mark Williams to injury.

The Hornets have a poor defensive rating of 122.1 with Mark Williams off the court this season. This looks like a spot where Embiid could easily go for 50 points as the Hornets just simply do not have the personnel to match up with him. Charlotte also rank 22^nd in FT rate allowed while the 76ers rank second in offensive FT rate. The Hornets rank dead-last in adjusted defensive rating on the season.

LaMelo Ball has returned to the Hornets starting lineup over the last three games, but it has yet to result in better offense as they have failed to reach triple digit scoring in two of his three games back. They did post an average offensive rating of 115.6 against a very good New Orleans Pelicans defense on Wednesday night, so they might be trending in the right direction.

The 76ers rank fifth in adjusted defensive rating, but they do struggle in transition as they rank 23^rd in transition rate and 19^th in transition defensive rating. Charlotte has not been playing with any pace this season as they rank 29^th in transition rate. They would be wise to alter that strategy here as they aren’t going to have much success against this 76er defense that ranks fourth in the halfcourt.

At the current number of 76ers -10 I would lean towards the 76ers but I would definitely continue to monitor the injury report as both these teams are on a back to back and the Hornets have been active in trade discussions. If everyone is good to go this line should be around -12, making 76ers -11.5 a very small edge.

Pick: 76ers -11.5