NBA Spreads: Houston Rockets at Orlando Magic
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Orlando Magic will go for their eighth consecutive win tonight when they host the struggling Houston Rockets. The Magic beat the Bucks 97-87 on Wednesday, as they continue to roll over their opponents. All seven wins during the Magic’s current streak have all been by at least eight points. As for the Rockets they have lost three straight since reaching the .500 mark for the first time this season. Wednesday the Rockets had a fourth quarter lead, but were unable to hold on in 103-100 loss to the Trail Blazers. Taking a look at the NBA spreads for tonight’s games, oddsmakers have the Magic favored by 9.5-points over the Rockets at home.
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The Rockets just can’t seem to put four good quarters of basketball together right now, and until they star being more consistent on the floor, they are going to continue to lose to the better teams in the league. The Rockets 8-5 in their last 13 games, but at the same time are 0-5 against teams that have a winning record during that stretch. Houston got 45 points from Kevin Martin in their most recent loss to the Trail Blazers, and Shan Battier chipped in 13 points, but no other player scored in double figures.
The Rockets second leading scorer, Luis Scola had just six points, and with so few guys who can consistently score the basketball, the Rockets need a better effort out of Scola if they are going to win against the good teams. Houston was without backup point guard Aaron Brooks, who sat out the game with an ankle injury, and is currently listed as questionable for tonight’s game.
For the Rockets to win this game, they have to come out and play hard on the defensive end of the floor, cause if they don’t Orlando is going to jump all over them.
The Magic are playing as good as anyone right now, and it all starts down low with Dwight Howard, who had 28 points and 13 rebounds against the Bucks. Howard is averaging just under 25 points and 16 rebounds over his last three games, and when he plays like this, the Magic are going to be tough to stop.
The Magic are also spreading the ball around the court, as they had six different players score in double-figures against Milwaukee, and it has been like this for most of their winning streak. The Magic are also getting it done defensively, allowing just over 90 points per contest over their last six games.
One knock on the Magic is they have been so good lately that it almost seems like they are struggling to keep their intensity up for an entire game.
I think you have to roll with the Magic in this one at -9.5. Houston is just 6-13 on the road, and really don’t have anyone that can matchup with Howard down low. Orlando has covered in six of their last seven games.
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