The 76ers hosted the Knicks five days ago minus Joel Embiid and his third-ranked 29.9 point scoring average. The 76ers managed to come away with a 99-96 victory for a total of 195 points. Seth Curry and Ben Simmons did play in that game. Curry scored 20 points while Simmons produced 16 points and seven assists. Together they combined to shoot 15-of-29 from the floor. 
Embiid remains out, but now Curry and Simmons are questionable with injuries. 
Yet the oddsmaker still has set what I regard as too high of a total. Perhaps he was influenced by the 76ers burying the Kings, 129-105, at home on Saturday despite Philadelphia missing Curry and Simmons. The Kings are ranked 29th defensively giving up 119.6 points. They are coached by Luke Walton. The Knicks are ranked No. 1 in most of the major defensive categories, including scoring defense, defensive field goal percentage and 3-point defense. They are coached by Tom Thibodeau, a defensive genius, 
Before they produced 129 points versus the Kings, the 76ers had been held to 93 points in regulation by the Bucks and 99 by the Knicks in their previous two games. 
The Knicks are a bottom-three scoring team. They have a cluster injury problem at point guard. Frank Ntilikina, an Under bettor's dream, has been drawing time. The 76ers are well above average defensively ranking seventh in scoring defense and fourth in defensive field goal percentage.