NBA Picks: Orlando Magic at Washington Wizards
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Orlando Magic will look to get things turned around when they visit the Washington Wizards Friday night. Orlando has won both meetings against the Wizards this season, and four straight overall.
Our NBA spreads have the Magic favored by 5.5-points over the Wizards with the total set at 198.
Orlando fell 104-100 at home to the Miami Heat Thursday night, their second straight loss and four in their last six games.
Washington also comes in struggling. The Wizards fell 97-89 at New Orleans on Tuesday to push their season road record to 0-25, and have now lost six straight overall.
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Orlando got off to a rough start against the Heat last night, trailing by 16 going into the fourth quarter. Orlando made a game of it late, but just didn’t have enough to come all the way back.
Jameer Nelson led the way with 22 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Jason Richardson ended up with 18 points, and Dwight Howard had 17 points and 16 rebounds.
Ryan Anderson got the start for the injured Brandon Bass, but scored just nine points in 17 minutes of work. With Anderson no longer coming in off the bench, Orlando got just 21 points from their reserves.
This will be the first game for Gilbert Arenas against his former team, Arenas had 10 points against the Heat, and while he was a star in Washington, he has taken on a much different role in Orlando. It will also be the first game for Washington’s Rashard Lewis against the Magic.
The Wizards got a big night offensively from Nick Young in their last game against the Hornets. Young had a game-high 30 points, but it wasn’t close to enough to get them the win. Andray Blatche added 21 points, while the other three starters each had just four points. John Wall did however finish with seven assists and six rebounds.
While the offense wasn’t as good as it had been in the past few games, the defense was one again horrible for Washington. The Wizards are allowing just over 110 points a game during their current six-game losing streak, and are going to have a hard time stopping Orlando if they continue to play like that.
I think Orlando is going to be motivated to win tonight after two straight games where they had to feel like they should have won. Washington is no match for the Magic, and if Orlando comes to play this game will be decided by at least six points.
See what our experts have to off for Friday in their free NBA picks, or check out what our top NBA handicappers have going tonight in their premium NBA picks.
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