Orlando Magic at Charlotte Bobcats Betting Preview

Opening Line: Magic -1.5 / Bobcats +1.5 O/U 189.5

Time: 7 PM EST Saturday January 23

On Saturday night the Charlotte Bobcats host the struggling Orlando Magic. This game is a match up of a couple of teams heading in different directions, as the Bobcats are streaking and have been the hottest team in the league the last couple of weeks, while the Magic have been ice cold, which is why they currently trail the Atlanta Hawks in the Southeast Division after being in first place for most of the season.

The reason the Bobcats are winning is their defense, as they rank #1 in the league so far this season in points allowed.

Currently the Bobcats are in the 5th position in the Eastern Conference and the team in the 4th position is the Magic. If the Bobcats keep up their good play they will make the post-season for the first time in franchise history.

Vince Carter has been struggling big time for the Magic as of late, as in the last several games he is only averaging around 7 ppg and shooting 22% from the floor.

The Magic will need Carter, as well as Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis, to shoot well in this game so the Bobcats do not pack the lane to defend Dwight Howard, who leads the Magic in scoring and leads the NBA in both rebounding and blocked shots and ranks 3rd in FG%.

Things would be worse for Orlando if it were not for SF Matt Barnes, who has played stellar averaging around 14 ppg, 8 rpg and has shot about 58% from the floor since replacing Mickael Pietrus in the starting lineup at the end of December.

The Magic have to play good defense on Stephen Jackson, who averaged 23 ppg in the Bobcats recent 6 game home stand, where they won all 6 games.

Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace, who are both averaging over 18 ppg, will have to score in this game, as the Bobcats do not have a lot of scoring options.

The Bobcats will have to win this game with their defense, as if they do not have the offense to get into a high scoring game. This season the Bobcats only rank 28th out of 30 teams in the NBA in points per game.

Bobcats C Nazr Mohammed has a tall task in this game, as he has to keep Howard from dominating in the paint on both sides of the floor. He gives up an inch and 15 pounds of muscle to Howard, so he will need some help inside.

Orlando is 9-4 ATS in their last 13 teams in the Southeast Division, 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 road games, and the total has gone Under in 5 of their last 6 road games. Charlotte is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games and the total has gone Under in 13 of their last 19 games at home.