NBA Spreads: Orlando Magic at Indiana Pacers
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The Indiana Pacers will look to snap a five game losing streak when they host the Orlando Magic Wednesday night. Orlando leads the season series 1-0 thanks to a 90-86 win at Indiana on Nov. 20. Tip-off is set for 7:00 ET at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Orlando lost at home against the Detroit Pistons 103-96 on Monday, their first loss at home since Dec. 21 and just their fourth loss all season to a team with a losing record. The Pacers haven’t won a game since beating the Dallas Mavericks at home 102-89 back on Jan. 12, and were just recently crushed 121-107 at Denver on Sunday.
Taking a look at the NBA spreads for tonight’s game, oddsmakers have the Magic favored by 5.5-points over the Pacers with the total set at 198.5.
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Not much went right for the Magic in their most recent loss to the Pistons. Dwight Howard had 20 points and 16 rebounds, but the Magic big man had just four points in the final 15 minutes, as Orlando continued to settle for outside shots. The Magic however shot just 7-27 from long distance, and never really threatened the Pistons.
Ryan Anderson came off the bench to score 21 points in just 26 minutes, but the Magic had just four players finish in double figures. Hedo Turkoglu had seven assists and eight rebounds, but went just 2-8 from the field for four points. Jason Richardson had just six points on 3-11 shooting.
While the Magic tend to live and die by the outside shot, they are a much better basketball team when they work the ball inside and run the offense through Howard. In the first meeting against the Pacers Howard had 26 points and 12 rebounds, and if they get him going tonight, I think they have a great shot at pulling out the win.
The Pacers will look to shake off a tough four-game road trip, where they failed to win a single game. In their last matchup against the Nuggets Tyler Hansbrough had a season-high 27 points and 10 rebounds and Paul George came off the bench to score 17, but no other Pacer had more than 12 points.
Roy Hibbert had just 12 points, and has really struggled to find his game offensively after such a great start to the season. Hibbert had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the first game against the Magic.
The Pacers shot just 42.5% from the field against Denver, and it’s going to be hard for this team to win games if they don’t start shooting the ball better. Its unlikely Hansbrough will be much of a factor inside against Howard, but guys like Darren Collison and Danny Granger can really play a big role in this game. Granger and Collison combined for just 13 points against the Nuggets. Granger had scored at least 22 points in each of his last four games, but Collison is averaging just over 10 points in his last three games.
I think your money has to be on the Magic in this one. Even with the loss to Detroit, Orlando is 21-4 this season against teams with a losing record, and I think they will respond with a big win after what happened at home against the Pistons.
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