Orlando Magic at Cleveland Cavaliers
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Orlando Magic will go for their fourth consecutive win tonight when they go on the road to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers. It appears as though the recent moves by the Magic are starting to pay off, as they really have looked impressive over their last three games, beating San Antonio, Boston, and most recently New Jersey last night. As for the Cavaliers, they have won just 1 of their last 14 games. Cleveland loss 98-97 against the Timberwolves on Sunday, and have now lost more games (22) than they did all of last season. Our spreads indicate that the oddsmakers have the Magic favored by 8-points over the Cavaliers on the road.
The new additions of Hedo Turkoglu, Gilbert Arenas, and Jason Richardson really struggled to make shots in their first two games, but that hasn’t been the case over the Magic’s current three game winning streak. The trio is shooting just over 46% during the last three games. Turkoglu led the Magic with 20 points in their last win over the Nets, and also added seven rebounds and five assists.
Another big reason the Magic have turned things around is the effort they are giving on the defensive side of the ball. Orlando has held their opponents to just 89 points over the last three games, and if they come to play tonight, they should have no trouble holding the Cavaliers in check. Cleveland is averaging just 93 points a game on the season.
Making matters even worse for the Cavaliers is the fact that they might be without Daniel Gibson for a second straight game, as he battles the flu. Gibson had scored in double figures in his last three games, including a 29 point performance against the Jazz.
Antwan Jamison led the Cavaliers with 24 points against the Timberwolves, while Anthony Parker added 21 and Mo Williams chipped in 17. All three of these guys are going to have to play well for the Cavaliers to win this game, and even then it still might not be enough to beat the Magic the way they are playing.
The Cavaliers offense has been so bad lately, that they haven’t scored more than 100 points in regulation since they last played the Magic back on Nov. 26 in a 111-100 loss at Orlando. Cleveland did score 109 points in an overtime win over the Knicks on Dec. 18.
I think you have to roll with the Magic the way they are playing right now. Cleveland has lost multiple games by double-digits this season, and just don’t have the talent offensively to keep up with Orlando.
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