Orlando at Milwaukee
Time: 8 PM ET, Mar 10, 2014
Spread: ORL -1
Total: 204
Betting odds courtesy of Bovada
The Orlando Magic are 19-45 on the season, which places them as third-worst in the Eastern Conference. Its opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks, have just 12 wins on the season and are the worst in the East. The Magic are one-point favorites in Milwaukee.
Orlando has lost its past two contests to Western Conference powers Houston and San Antonio. The Magic defeated Philly 92-81 on Mar 2 for its last victory, a night on which forward Tobias Harris scored his career high of 31 points. Harris is averaging 19.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game over his last 10 games and is averaging 21 points per game in the month of March. He has clearly benefited from the team buying out the contract of Glen Davis, which opened up both minutes and shots for Harris.
The Magic rank low offensively, scoring just 96.8 points per game (24th in NBA), and the team isn’t particularly tough defensively, allowing 101.9 points per game, for a negative differential of -5.1 points per game. Arron Afflalo is having a career year at the 2-spot, but the Magic will be without rookie Victor Oladipo most likely, as he is still nursing a sore right ankle. Nikola Vucevic is having a strong season with 14.2 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, and he has the highest PER on the team at 19.2.
Milwaukee has been even more dreadful than Orlando offensively, and the Bucks have a negative point differential of -8.2. The team is strong on the defensive end when healthy, but Larry Sanders has been out after having orbital surgery on his eye.
John Henson has looked very good at times, but the Bucks backcourt of O.J. Mayo and Brandon Knight is a study in deficiency. Mayo is posting a PER of just 11.1 after being in the leaders at the shooting guard position last season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has looked awesome in short minutes, but he is still growing and has the word potential applied to his name more often than not. The “Greek Freak” as he is being called, is averaging 7.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.8 blocks in 24 minutes a game.
ORL Trends: 3-0-1 ATS in last 4 after allowing 100 points or more in previous game; 0-3-1 ATS in last 4 following ATS win; 3-0-1 ATS in last 4 vs teams with losing SU records.
MIL Trends: OVER 4-0 in last 4 following ATS win; OVER 7-0 in last 7 after allowing 100 points or more in previous game; OVER 4-0 in last 4 vs teams with winning percentages below .400.
Head-to-head: OVER 6-1 in last 7 meetings; OVER 5-1 in last 6 in Milwaukee; Magic 4-1 ATS in last 5 meetings in Milwaukee.
