The Orlando Magic travel to the United Center to do battle with the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic have been in a rut with three losses in their last four games overall and they will be hoping to bounce back after getting routed by the Nets in a 124-104 road loss last night. Franz Wagner led the team with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Paolo Banchero added 19 points while Goga Bitadze chipped in with 14 points on six of seven shooting. As a team, the Magic shot 43 percent from the field and 16 of 46 from the 3-point line as they poured in 36 points in the first quarter to take the lead into halftime, only to get blown out by 67-44 in the second half as they just had no answer for the Nets' duo of Spencer Dinwiddie and Cameron Johnson.
Orlando Magic Team Facts
- The Magic have lost 14 of their last 15 night games on the second leg of a back-to-back.
- The Magic have covered the spread in each of their last seven games against teams that held a losing record.
- Ten of the Magic's last 12 night games at United Center have gone UNDER the total points line.
Chicago Bulls
Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls have been in a rut with just two wins in their past seven games overall and they will be hoping to bounce back after getting beaten by the Bucks in a 118-109 road loss on Monday. Nikola Vucevic led the team with 26 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, Zach LaVine added 20 points with eight rebounds and five assists while Coby White chipped in with 16 points. As a team, the Bulls shot just 38 percent from the field and 14 of 42 from the 3-point line as they struggled right from the jump, getting outscored by 35-18 in the first quarter which had them trailing right till the end.
Chicago Bulls Team Facts
- The Bulls have lost five of their last six games as home favorites following a road loss.
- The Bulls have failed to cover the spread in seven of their last eight games as home favorites following a road loss.
- Fourteen of the Bulls' last 16 games against the Magic following a road loss have gone UNDER the total points line.
Peter's Pick
The Magic could again be missing Markelle Fultz who sat out last night with a knee injury, while the Bulls have ruled out DeMar DeRozan due to personal reasons and they are keeping an eye on Alex Caruso who is questionable. The Magic will be playing this one on zero days rest, but they're still playing decent basketball and they're going up against a Bulls team missing DeRozan who is so important for their offense. This is a close call, but the Magic have the edge in scoring depth and I think they can take advantage of a shorthanded Bulls in this spot.
