Charlotte Bobcats at Orlando Magic Betting Odds


Opening Betting Lines: Bobcats +9 / Magic -9 O/U 186

Time: 7 PM EST Wednesday April 21, 2010 on TNT

The Magic lead this best of 7 series 1-0.

Tonight in game 2 of an Eastern Conference 1st round playoff series the Orlando Magic host the Charlotte Bobcats. The Magic won Game 1 even though they were outscored in the 2nd half and Dwight Howard only had 5 points and 7 boards, but did block 9 shots. The Bobcats need to find some more offense tonight or they will be down 0-2 in this series.

This season the Magic were 34-7 at home and 44-33-5 ATS and the Bobcats were 13-28 on the road and 44-37-1 ATS.

In Game 1 the Magic beat the Bobcats 98-89 on Sunday.

The Bobcats definitely have to play better perimeter defense in tonight's game, as in Game 1 the Magic shot lights out from beyond the 3-point arc hitting on 13/30 of their long balls for a 3-pt FG% of 43.3%.

Even though Howard only had 7 boards in Game 1 he was the leading rebounder for the Magic in the game, as Orlando hit the boards as a team and out-rebounded Charlotte by 7 rebounds.

Howard was swarmed every time he touched the ball and even though he only scored 7 points and was 1/6 from the free throw line he kept the Charlotte D from guarding open players. The Bobcats may want to rethink that strategy in tonight's game.

Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis were on fire in Game 1 combining for 51 points on 18/29 shooting. Vince Carter did not play well in Game 1 scoring only 12 points on 4/19 shooting.

The Bobcats were so worried about Howard dominating that they let the Magic guards have open looks and they really took advantage of it. The Bobcats were the best defensive teams in the league in terms of opponents' points allowed, but they will have to play better overall defense in tonight's game.

Charlotte is not a high scoring team and they need good offensive games from Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson to win. Wallace was solid in Game 1 with 25 points on 8/13 shooting and while Jackson scored 18 points he was only 6/18 from the floor and missed all 3 of his 3-point shots.

The Bobcats had 14 turnovers in Game 1 and they have to take better care of the ball tonight.

Betting Trends

Charlotte is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games against teams with a home winning percentage of greater than 60%, 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games against teams with a winning record, and has an Under record of 7-0-1 in their last 8 games as a road underdog.

Orlando is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games, 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 home games, and has an Over record of 3-0-1 in their last 4 home games.

Our Selection : The Bobcats held the Magic to only 39 points in the second half of Game 1 and I look for Charlotte to continue their solid defensive play tonight. These two have trended to the under with 6 unders and a push in their last 8 games that ended in regulation. Take under 186 points at SPORTSBETTING.com.


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NBA Handicapping

Dallas Mavericks at Miami Heat Odds 6-12
The Mavs are up 3-2 in this series heading to South Beach and for the Heat to force Game 7 they will have to play better in the 4th quarter, especially LeBron James. 5Dimes has the hometown Heat as 5-point favorites in Game 6 with a total of 187.

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