Two teams with NBA title hopes but generally regarded as the No. 3 team in their respective conference meet Wednesday in Orlando, with the Magic opening as 7.5-point favorites over the Denver Nuggets on WagerWeb.com.
Orlando certainly will have the rest advantage, having not played since beating the Nets on Sunday. Denver is in the midst of a three-week road trip and won 99-82 at Miami on Tuesday night.
After being blown out at home by the Magic 106-88 on Jan.17, the Nuggets have won eight of their past 11 and are in first place in the Northwest Division. Star Carmelo Anthony missed that first game with Orlando with a metacarpal fracture in his right hand. Hedo Turkoglu had 31 points in that one, and Dwight Howard had 20 rebounds.
And in that first game the Magic had All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson, which won’t be the case tonight. Orlando is 2-2 without Nelson since he went down with a shoulder injury (that second loss includes the game in which he was hurt) that likely will cost him the season. The bad news for Orlando is that some opposing point guards have had big nights against the Magic with Nelson out, including the Pacers’ T.J. Ford (21 points) and New Jersey’s Devin Harris (28 points).
Denver point guard Chauncey Billups terrorized the Magic when with the Pistons; he was probably the main reason Detroit ousted Orlando from the playoffs in back-to-back years. In January the Magic held Billups to 18 points on just 6 of 17 from the field. But he could have a big night against new Magic starter Anthony Johnson.
“Chauncey is an all-star-caliber point guard,” Johnson said. “He’s a guy of size and is able to post up a little bit. One thing I want to do is try to make it as uncomfortable as possible for him.”
Billups had 23 points and five assists in the win over the Heat on Tuesday. However, Denver has lost 15 consecutive games in Orlando and is 2-18 all-time there. The Magic have won seven of the last eight meetings by at least nine points.
“I don’t have that answer (why), other than they are a good team,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “I think most of the time we have played back-to-backs. And I think every organization kind of has their nightmare city.”
Howard has 16 straight double-doubles and has scored at least 30 points in two of Orlando’s last three home games.
WagerWeb.com Game Trends
* Nuggets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. NBA Southeast.
* Nuggets are 7-15 ATS in their last 22 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
* Nuggets are 3-10 ATS in their last 13 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
* Nuggets are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games playing on 0 days rest.
* Nuggets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a S.U. win.
* Nuggets are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
* Magic are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 vs. NBA Northwest.
* Magic are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
* Magic are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games.
* Home team is 11-1 ATS in the last 12 meetings.
* Favorite is 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings.
* Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
* Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Orlando.
* Nuggets are 5-12 ATS in the last 17 meetings.
* Nuggets are 0-8 ATS in the last 8 meetings in Orlando.
NBA Betting at WagerWeb.com
1 comment:
Get to have Luxury Sports Holidays and see those awesome sporting events live.
Post a Comment