NBA Basketball
2011-01-28 - Orlando Magic at Chicago Bulls
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Friday 28 January 2011 - Tip-Off 8pm ET
1am (British Standard Time)
Preview
This is an interesting match for both teams as the elite of the Eastern Conference begin jockeying for position in the Play Offs. That area becomes clearer after the All-Star game next month, but the Chicago Bulls (31-14) have another issue to address as they look to reverse their largest defeat of the season when reuniting with the Orlando Magic (30-16).
However, there may be an issue for the Bulls that they will have to face this game without Derrick Rose, or at least without the All-Star at 100%. Rose has been suffering from stomach ulcers and even yesterday he said that he has not been able to eat properly in the last few days. Rose also said his energy has 'been kind of low'.
At the moment, the issue has not stopped the production that Rose is outputting. He has averaged 23 points per game during the latest 3 game winning run in the Bulls' season although Rose will look to improve the 35% shooting from the field.
The Bulls have had 3 days off to recover for this game after playing 13 in the previous 21 days. However, they will be hoping to improve on their performance the last time they had that many days rest- a double digit defeat to the Magic.
Orlando have recently been dominating Chicago in their meetings and all without a serious output from their top player Dwight Howard. The big Center, and leading All-Star votee, has averaged 22 points per game this season but has only 14.3 points per game in his last 3 against Chicago.
The Magic won their 2nd road game in a row at Indiana last time out and will look to match a season high of 3 consecutive wins here. The win over Indiana came thanks to a hugely impressive 16 from 34 at the 3 point line and 6 players reached double figures.
Ryan Anderson, Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu were all hammering the basket from the 3 point mark and Orlando have got back to the kind of formula that worked when they reached the NBA Finals in 2009. Anderson is being particularly productive off the bench as he pushes for a starting place- he has averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds this season on 24 minutes playing time.
Head to Head
Orlando have won 3 in a row against Chicago by an average of 26 points per game. They are also 8-2 in the last 10 games in the series.
Orlando have won back to back games at Chicago and are 4-2 in the last 6 here. The Magic are 4-2 against the spread in those games.
Chicago are 14-9-2 against the spread at home this season, Orlando are 9-13-1 on the road.
Chicago are 1-2 against the spread on 3 days rest this season, Orlando are 13-12-1 on 1 days rest.
Other Interesting Notes
Chicago are 5-2-1 against the spread in their last 8 games at home.
The Bulls are 10-3 against the spread when considered the underdog at home by between 0.5 and 5 points.
They are 16-34-1 against the spread against teams from the same Division as Orlando.
Orlando are 9-3-1 against the spread following a game they have won straight up.
They are 17-8 against the spread when favoured by between 0.5 and 5 points but that is only 1-5 when playing on the road.
The Magice are 7-3-1 against the spread following an against the spread win in the previous game and are 13-6 against teams from the same Division as Chicago.
Prediction
A limited Derrick Rose will make this game a lot tougher for the Chicago Bulls who will be missing Joakim Noah to guard Dwight Howard. However, there has to be some respect given to a team that has beaten both Miami and Boston at home over the last month.
Orlando will feel they have the edge on Chicago as the recent meetings have shown, and that could be furthered thanks to Rose's illness. If they can continue shooting from the 3 point range as they were against Indiana, I really think they can pull another win over Chicago.
The changes made to the roster by Orlando seems to have worked in their favour and I think they have the same formula that had worked so well a couple of seasons ago with many threats from the 3 point range and the inside devastation caused by Dwight Howard.
The line has changed in the last few hours with the Rose news being filtered out, but I still think it is worth taking Orlando to win this game.
The Pick :
Chicago Bulls 96-99 Orlando Magic
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll take the Orlando Magic + 0 PointsFollow me on Twitter @DavindaAulak- the direct link is below
