The set-up: The 38-30 Philadelphia 76ers are currently the East's No. 6 seed. However, in this logjam of a race, while they are just 1 1/2 games back of the third-seeded Cavs, they are also just two games up on the eighth-seeded Heat. Philly looks to keep taking advantage of lesser opponents as it fights for playoff positioning when the 76ers host the Charlotte Hornets on Monday. The Sixers took care of business against the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, two of the five Eastern Conference teams that are at least 20 games below .500, to begin this current stretch and they also can look forward to matchups with lowly squads Memphis and Orlando after finishing up with the Hornets. Charlotte is just 30-40 and is closing toward mathematical elimination from the playoff race after falling 124-101 at the Knicks on Saturday, the team's seventh defeat in its last nine games.

Charlotte: The Hornets seemed to give up in the third quarter at New York on Saturday, when they were outscored 42-17 by a team that had dropped its previous nine games. "There are gonna be nights like that," center Dwight Howard told the media. "I didn't think it was going to be that bad, but it was a tough one for us. We are playing pretty good as of late, but tonight we just laid an egg." Howard struggled to 6-of-17 from the floor but recorded his fourth straight double-double to give him 709 for his career, one shy of Hall of Famer Charles Barkley for seventh on the NBA's list since the 1983-84 season. That said, when is Howard actually going to make one of his teams better? He was Charlotte's big FA pick up this past off-season and while he's averaging a double-double (16.4 & 12.1), the Hornets' win percentage of .429 is even worse than last year's team (.439).

Philadelphia: Joel Embiid marked his 24th birthday with 24 points and a career-high 19 rebounds in Philadelphia's 120-116 win over the Nets on Friday. Embiid (23.6 & 11.1) and rookie Ben Simmons (16.7-7.8-7.7) look like they'll be stars for a decade plus Philly's other three starters are all quality NBA players. SF Covington (12.5 & 5.5) made a clutch three-pointer in Friday's 120-116 win over the Nets, giving him double digits in scoring in four straight games, his longest such streak since December. SG Redick (16.7) and PF Saric (15.0 & 7.0) complete a very impressive Philly starting-five.

The pick: Philadelphia has scored 119 PPG and shot 54% in collecting a pair of double-digit victories at Charlotte's expense earlier this month. This will be the third meeting in 17 days between the two teams. Philly is 21-10 SU (20-11 ATS) at home but while Charlotte is just 11-23 SU on the road, the Hornets are only being outscored by just under three points per game in their road efforts. Won't buck Philly but I do believe the Under should be a 10* play.