New Orleans Hornets at Orlando Magic
NBA Basketball: Monday February 8, 2009 08:00 PM EST
The Line: Orlando -8
The Orlando Magic look to gain on their momentum tonight we they host the New Orleans Hornets.
The (34-17, 26-24-1 ATS) Magic come into tonight's match off a 96-89 road victory against the Boston Celtics yesterday afternoon, a game in which they trailed by 11 at the half but used a 36-11 third quarter to take control and eventually get the win. The (27-24, 24-27 ATS) Hornets who are still minus their All-Star guard in Chris Paul, snapped a three game losing streak with an impressive 104-99 win at Charlotte on Saturday night.
The Magic and Hornets split the regular season series last year with each team blowing the other out at home. The home team is 3-1-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings, however the Hornets are 5-1-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Orlando and the underdog is 8-2-1 ATS in the last 11 meetings.
- Hornets are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 road games.
- Hornets are 7-0 ATS in their last 7 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Hornets are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games playing on 1 days rest.
- Magic are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
- Magic are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. Western Conference.
- Magic are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a home favorite of 5.0-10.5.
I ripped on the Magic in my last article against Boston and called them the most disappointing team in the NBA and I still stand behind those comments. Granted the Magic have picked their game up as of late and it didn't surprise me in the least that they beat the Celtics last night, however the fact remains that Orlando always play down to lesser competition and it wouldn't surprise if the Magic to that again tonight.
The Hornets are only 1-3 without Paul in the lineup, but they are 1-0 away from home and have actually won nine of the last 12 on the road, granted Paul was in the lineup for the majority of those games. If rookie replacement Darren Collison can keep up his stellar play in Paul's absence, the Hornets might just be able to do enough to stay in the hunt one of the last spots in the West until Paul returns.
The Magic have won nine of 11, just took down one of the East's best teams in the Celtics and now they travel home to take on the Chris Paul less Hornets, this should be an easy double digit win for the Magic right? Wrong. Until Orlando show me they can take care of the teams they should beat, I will go against them, not to mention their is a chance of a Magic let down after an emotional win against Boston. The Hornets aren't world beaters themselves but they have shown that they can win on the road and teams usually rally and play harder when they are without their star player. Take New Orleans and the points tonight.
Dan's Pick: New Orleans +8
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