Chicago at Orlando
Location: Cuidad de Mexico
Time: 8:30 PM CT, NBA TV
Total: ORL -5.5
Spread: 209
Odds c/o 5dimes
At 12-15, the Orlando Magic have been one of the pleasant surprises of the Eastern Conference, but it is now mired in a three-game losing streak as it hosts the struggling Chicago Bulls. The Bulls are just 6-22 and are arguably the worst team in the East. Orlando will be 5.5-point favorites in the game with an over/under set at 209 points according to NBA oddsmakers at bookmaker 5dimes.
ORL
This game will be in Mexico City, which is the second time the Magic have played in Mexico since 2012. Orlando has been led by Nikola Vucevic, who is having a career season. Potentially an All-Star reserve this year, the big man has averaged 20.6 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game, while also coming up with 1.96 blocks/steals per game. Even his defense has been on point, but of course, this comes in a contract season for the big man. With Orlando recently having selected center Mo Bamba No. 6 overall in 2018, will it let Vucevic walk, or will it pay up for the big man who had been mostly a disappointment prior to this explosive campaign he is putting together?
No matter what the case, Orlando does have Aaron Gordon tied up to a long-term contract. And Gordon has been good, if not equally as enigmatic as he has been throughout his short career thus far. He is averaging 16.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.80 steals/blocks per game, but he has not erased his tendency to utterly disappear from games at times. Evan Fournier is serving as the No. 3 scorer this season at 15.1 points per game, but Orlando could probably part with Fournier given the emergence of Terrence Ross, who essentially does most of the same things as Fournier, while also being younger.
Jonathan Isaac has emerged as Orlando’s best overall defender, but his offense is slow in coming. Isaac is averaging just 8.3 points per game while shooting 43.8 percent from the floor and 25.5 percent from three. The Magic hope his offense will come along, and the team is averaging 104.6 points per game this season, which is hardly lighting it on fire. The Magic do possess the No. 8 defense in the league, though, holding opponents to 107 per night, but doing the math, that is still a negative differential for the 12-15 Magic. There is potential on the roster, and Vucevic is playing better than ever, but what will Orlando do when it faces its crucial decisions after this season?
CHI
The Chicago Bulls have been horrendous, and at 6-22 it finds itself even trailing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Central Division standings, as Chicago inhabits the cellar of the division.
Little has gone right on either end: Chicago is the league’s worst offensive team at 101.8 points per game, while it also has a bottom-third defense that surrenders 112.9 points per game. That -11.1 point differential spells the problem of a team that has failed to win a quarter of its games, and there is little sign that things will improve, particularly after the team just fired head coach Fred Holberg. Jim Boylen is his replacement, and the team recently had a “players only” meeting while its top talent Zach LaVine spent time with the new coach trying to sort out the multitude of issues facing the Bulls team.
LaVine has been great offensively, but questions linger about his defensive effort, and that same question really goes for the majority of the Bulls roster. LaVine averages 23.8 points per game, along with 4.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, but he has not bee n efficient, nor is he really making his teammates any better. Jabari Parker continues to disappoint at just under 16 points and seven rebounds per game, as a former No. 2 overall pick who was supposed to be a superstar. Two torn ACLs are mostly to blame, but the Bulls thought to take a reclamation project flyer on the local talent, and it has hardly worked out.
Second-year forward Lauri Markkannen spent the beginning of the season injured, but he has looked better with the 15 pounds of muscle he worked to add this offseason. Markkanen is averaging 15 points and six boards in his five appearances thus far, but the Bulls need not only his offensive breakout, but a much better defensive effort team-wide to emerge from the rut it finds itself in.
The Bulls may find itself embarrassed in Mexico City, by a Magic team with its own problems but one that at least as the cohesiveness and defensive identity to really pound Chicago.
