Philly's Embiid in a nice spot for assists

We know that everyone is missing "Thursday Night Football," but that is more than remedied by six games in the NBA and 12 in the NHL. Whether you prefer hoops or the ice, we aim to please all.

Let us assist you with a look at Thunder-Sixers

The Oklahoma City and Philadelphia game is one of the highest totals of the night, currently set at 233 points. We certainly see why: over the past three games the Sixers have one of the fastest pace of play marks and the Thunder top the NBA in possessions per game.

With the expectation of points, we navigate over to the prop table to see if we can find a look worth wagering on. Joel Embiid has been on a tear lately, scoring 35+ points in six of his last seven games. Curiously, the one game he failed to hit that mark was against this very Oklahoma City team on New Year's Eve. Embiid finished with just 16 points on 6-17 shooting from the field. While the points weren't there, Embiid's impact certainly was as he notched a triple-double.

The blip in scoring led us to dig in a bit more, and it appears that given the Thunder had no defensive answer for Embiid, they consistently threw double teams at him to get the ball out of his hands. It worked, as Embiid finished the day with 10 assists, a season-high. 

So to recap, we like points in this game, and Embiid was just forced to create offense elsewhere in a recent meeting, a task he delivered successfully. See where we're going? This line feels incredibly generous given that recent meeting, and Embiid has covered this number in three of his last four games.

Betting: Joel Embiid over 3.5 assists (-110 MGM)

Trust in Toronto tonight

The Maple Leafs will be playing for the second night in a row and will be without star center Auston Matthews, but we trust them to deliver us some goals tonight.

Toronto has loved to see Detroit for years now, as the Maple Leafs have notched four or more goals against the Red Wings in 12 of the last 14 meetings. The numbers suggest a power-play goal or two is coming our way here with Detroit's penalty struggles of late, and Ville Husso has been a liability for the Red Wings in net lately.

Husso has allowed 4+ goals in five of his last starts and hasn't had a save percentage north of 90% in five straight. Couple Husso's struggles with the rich history of Toronto against Detroit, and we're confident they score even without Matthews.

Betting: Toronto over 3.5 goals, including OT (+100 DK)

In the news ...

Lamar Jackson not expected to play this weekend — The latest reports out of Baltimore suggest the Ravens will be without their quarterback for the sixth straight game. Ian Rapoport reports it will be an "uphill battle" for Lamar Jackson to hit the field Sunday against the Bengals, and it's possible we may have seen the last of Jackson in a Ravens uniform. There's been a widely-known standoff between Baltimore and Jackson on a new contract, so whether his injury was wrongly reported as one-to-three weeks in Week 13 or Jackson is refusing to play without a contract, this is a situation to monitor this offseason. Cincinnati is now an 8.5-point favorite against Baltimore.

Tyrese Haliburton injures knee in Wednesday loss — Indiana has been one of the pleasant surprises of the season, right in the mix in the Eastern Conference at 23-19. A big reason why has been the play of Tyrese Haliburton, averaging 20.2 points and 10.2 assists per game. Haliburton injured his knee and elbow last night and left Madison Square Garden on crutches. Keep an eye on the young guard's status before backing Indiana this weekend.

Cardinals and Texans expected to interview Sean Payton — Arizona and Houston have both requested permission from New Orleans to interview Sean Payton for their head coach vacancy, a request that has been granted. Payton is still under contract with the Saints, so there is a buyout scenario at play here should a team want to hire Payton. Denver is also expected to interview the former New Orleans coach, now a broadcaster at Fox.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Griffin Carroll