NBA Betting: Chicago Bulls at Orlando Magic

Added on Mar 04, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

A pair of upper table Eastern Conference teams go at it in Orlando on Friday night as the Magic host the Chicago Bulls. The Magic are currently in 4th place in the conference while Chicago is in 3rd place just 3 1/2 games out of first. Orlando is coming off a huge comeback win over the Miami Heat while the Bulls blew a big lead to lose to Atlanta in their previous game

Chicago Bulls at Orlando Magic
March 4, 2011 4:05 PM Pacific

For an emotional-subjective handicapper, it doesn’t get any better than this. The Orlando Magic pulled off an improbable upset in Miami last night going on an amazing 40-9 run to erase a 24 point 3rd quarter deficit. Chicago, meanwhile, was in the opposite situation against Atlanta on Wednesday night as they blew a 50-33 halftime lead as the Hawks outscored them 50-30 in the second half en route to an 83-80 loss. So this sets up a made to order dichotomy of a team in a huge ‘letdown’ spot against a team looking for a strong ‘bounce back’ effort. The dynamics of the Eastern Conference playoff race also play a role in this game–the Magic’s crazy win last night kept Chicago just 1 game behind the Miami Heat and 3 games behind the conference leading Boston Celtics.

Chicago has responded very well off an upset loss as a favorite this year, going 7-3 ATS. They’re also one of the best underdogs in the NBA going 10-4 ATS in that role. This is an especially good pointspread category for the team–they’re 4-1 SU/ATS as a road dog of 3 or less. The Magic are just 10-15 ATS against opponents with winning records and a substandard 6-9 ATS in the second of back to back games. That tendency to come out flat in this situation will be exacerbated by the nature of last night’s win at Miami–it required not only a monumental physical effort but had to be emotionally draining as well. They’ll go from that draining victory to a home court tilt against a very dangerous opponent looking to bounceback from a disappointing–if not embarrassing–loss. Bulls are a great defensive team and while they may not have the ability to ‘shut down’ Dwight Howard they’ve got good frontline size to at least make him work hard.

Bet Chicago Bulls +2 over Orlando Magic