NBA Basketball
2012-03-28 - Orlando Magic at New York Knicks
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Wednesday 28 March 2012 - Tip Off 7pm ET
Midnight (British Standard Time)
Preview
The day Dwight Howard made it clear that he was committing to the Orlando Magic (32-18) saw the teams problems disappear for the time being and now they are a real threat in the Eastern Conference. They will be keeping an eye on the Miami Heat, who have been struggling in March, and will hope they can bridge the 4 game gap to their Southeast Division rivals.
Now they face the New York Knicks (25-25) who won a vital game against the Milwaukee Bucks last time out, but a team that is suffering a number of injuries to starters and will be a little short-handed for this game at Madison Square Garden.
New York are just a couple of games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks in the fight for a Play Off berth, although the Knicks could be looking above them at the Philadelphia 76ers who they trail by 3 games in the race for the Atlantic Division. Mike Woodson has led the team to a 7-1 record since taking over from Mike D'Antoni, but there is still a lot of hard work between them now and making the Play Offs for the second season in succession.
It is the defensive side of the court that has allowed the Knicks to win 3 of their last 4 games as they have held teams to under 84 points per game, although they are struggling on the offensive side of the ball.
That may still be the case as others are going to need to step up in the absence of Amare Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin who will both be missing tonight. Carmelo Anthony is expected to play despite having a few issues himself, while JR Smith is probable despite suffering an illness.
It will be a real test for the Knicks tonight as they face a confident Orlando team that has won 3 games on the bounce and scored a season high 117 points last time out against Toronto. The Magic live and die by the three point shot and it was Ryan Anderson who was most successful on that front against the Raptors as he sunk 8 in the game, a career high.
Orlando will look for Dwight Howard to dominate inside, something that does open up the perimeter for the likes of Anderson and JJ Redick, and he will want to bounce back from his last performance at MSG. Howard only scored 8 points in that win, but has averaged 25.4 points and 16.3 rebounds in his previous 9 games in the series between the teams.
Head to Head
The New York Knicks were defeated by 9 points by Orlando in their one and only meeting against the Magic this season, losing that game as the 1.5 point underdog.
Orlando are 6-2 against the spread in the last 8 meetings overall and they are 3-1 against the spread in the last 4 games at Madison Square Garden.
New York are 15-11 against the spread at home this season, Orlando are 13-11 on the road.
New York are 10-10 against the spread as the underdog, Orlando are 21-15 as the favourite.
Other Interesting Trends
New York are 14-3 against the spread in their last 17 home games overall.
They are 6-2 against the spread in their last 8 games as the underdog being given between 0.5 and 4.5 points.
Orlando are 5-2 against the spread in their last 7 games as the road favourite of between 0.5 and 4.5 points.
They are 5-1 against the spread in their last 6 games against teams from the Atlantic Division.
Prediction
I am going to back the Orlando Magic to win this game and cover the spread for the following reasons:
First, Orlando have been very good in the series and they could take advantage of the short-handed Knicks that had an emotional win over Milwaukee in their last game.
Second, the Knicks have struggled to avenge a home loss, going 4-7 against the spread in those games.
Third, I expect Dwight Howard to recover for a better game than he did the last time he met the Knicks, so the key will be whether they can continue hitting their three points as they were in the game with Toronto.
The Pick :
New York Knicks 92-95 Orlando Magic
