NBA Basketball
2012-12-31 - Miami Heat at Orlando Magic
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Monday 31 December 2012 - Tip Off 5pm
10pm (British Time)
Preview
Both of these Florida based teams have been struggling in the last few games and both will be looking at the other as a chance to turn things around. The Miami Heat (20-8) have fallen to defeat in back to back road games and have struggled defensively in those games. On the other hand, the Orlando Magic (12-18) have lost 5 in a row as injuries have begun to take their toll on the team.
Orlando have not lost 6 in a row in 7 years, but they are going to have to really turn around current form if they are to avoid that situation in this one. The Magic have lost 3 in a row at home and were absolutely blown away by the Toronto Raptors in their most recent home game.
As I mentioned above, injuries have also been hurting a team that lost both Ryan Anderson and Dwight Howard in the off-season. Glen Davis is out for the next month, while Jameer Nelson and E'Twaun Moore both missed practice yesterday and are considered questionable for this one.
That means the Magic are relying on their rookies and players with little experience to turn the tide and that won't be easy against this Miami Heat team, despite the latter's issues.
LeBron James hot start to the new season has continued and he has now extended his run to 28 games where he has scored at least 20 points. He did struggle to reach that total against the Magic last season in their 4 meetings, only achieving it once, but this is definitely a weaker Orlando team.
The team were blown out by the Milwaukee Bucks in their most recent game as the players outside of the 'Big Three' struggled to score points. Dwyane Wade was back in the team after his one game suspension and he scored 24 points in the game with the Bucks, while Wade has also averaged 29.4 points per game in his last 5 games against the Magic.
Head to Head
Miami and Orlando split a 4 game series last season, while the Heat are just 2-10 in their last 12 games in Orlando.
The Heat and the Magic have split the last 8 games against the spread.
Prediction
Both of these teams have had their struggles, but you have to believe that the experienced Miami Heat are going to have too much 'know how' for the Orlando Magic in this one.
The spread does look high, but Miami can win this one going away and I expect them to make a big statement by snapping their road losing run in a big way.
The Pick :
Orlando Magic 92-105 Miami Heat
