NBA Betting Odds: Orlando Magic at Golden State Warriors

Added on Mar 11, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

NBA action takes us out West for a non-conference matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Orlando Magic. The Magic have been playing reasonably well of late winning 7 of their last 10 games but are still mired in 4th place unable to make up much ground on the teams above them. The Warriors are 7 games out of the 8th and final playoff spot in the West but that represents a dramatic improvement over last season.

Orlando Magic at Golden State Warriors
March 11, 2011 7:35 PM Pacific

There’s a lot of reasons to like the home team in this matchup. It’s a tricky spot for Orlando, on the West coast for the second of a five game road trip. They looked flat against a vastly inferior Sacramento Kings team in the first game of this trip–and the Kings were playing without their best player. Orlando won the game, but the Kings covered the spread as a +10 home underdog. It was the Magic’s third consecutive ATS loss.

The Warriors have shown some incremental improvement under new coach Keith Smart. They’re never going to be mistaken for Boston or Chicago defensively, but they’ve shown some gradual improvement in points allowed and are playing a more controlled up-tempo style on offense. The Warriors are a dramatically different team at home than on the road. At home they’ve got a solid 19-13 record, but on the road are just 8-22 on the season. They are a tricky matchup for most Eastern Conference teams, however, since they play a fast paced style that teams from the opposing conference see only once a year.

The Orlando Magic is capable of looking like a championship contender one night and looking very mediocre the next. Their big weapon is Dwight Howard in the middle who creates matchup problems for virtually every team in the league. They’ve pulled above .500 on the road but are still not an exceptional team away from home with a 17-13 SU record. Against the spread, they’re 12-17 as a visitor.

Ultimately, whatever tactical matchup difficulty the Magic will experience with Golden State’s up tempo style it’s nothing compared to Orlando’s matchup advantage with Dwight Howard against an undersized Warriors’ front line. The Warriors are in a tricky scheduling situation themselves, playing their first game at home coming off of a seven game road trip and that’s seldom a spot where teams are at their best. We’ll look for Howard to have a big game as the Magic win and cover at Golden State.

Bet Orlando Magic -4′ over Golden State Warriors