Orlando vs Indiana NBA Odds Analysis

Posted by Eric Williams on Wednesday,March 30, 2016 1:29, EDT in

NBA News, Betting Tips, Picks & Previews

Currently in the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Indiana Pacers are completely and utterly ‘desperate’ right now. Indy will be going all out to beat the young Orlando Magic and keep their loose grip on the final playoff spot in the East. Unfortunately, the Pacers will take on an energetic Orlando team that has looked absolutely phenomenal in winning each of their last two games. Now, let’s find out who’s going to win this matchup here at MyBookie.

Orlando Magic vs Indiana Pacers NBA Odds Analysis

When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 31, 2016
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
TV: FSI, FS Florida
Radio: ESPN 580 / Salsa 98.1 FM (ESP), 1070 The Fan, SiriusXM NBA
Live Stream: NBA Stream
NBA Line: TBA

Why Bet the Orlando Magic

The Magic (31-43 SU, 41-32 ATS) have won two straight – in blowout fashion too! After pounding the Chicago Bulls 111-89 on Saturday, the Magic laid an even more emphatic 139-105 smackdown on Brooklyn on Tuesday night to easily cover the spread as an 8-point home favorite. The Magic placed a whopping eight players in double figures in scoring and got a team-high 24 points from forward Andrew Nicholson on a perfect 9-for-9 shooting effort from the field.

“Haven’t done this since college,” said Nicholson, a first round pick in 2012. “It felt good. It felt great. I’ve just tried to stay ready to play all season. My opportunity came tonight, and we all played well.”

Nicholson hit three 3-pointers in the win and Orlando led by at least 30 points for the majority of the second half.

“This is the kind of thing you can build on,” Nicholson said. “We can all build on this.”

The Magic are 4-1 ATS in their last five games following an ATS win and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games against their Eastern Conference opponents.

Why Bet the Indiana Pacers

The Pacers (39-35 SU, 36-37 ATS) were on the wrong end of a heartbreaking 98-96 loss against Chicago on Tuesday night, but the Pacers have still won three of their last five games. The bad news is that the Pacers tree wins came against Philadelphia, New Orleans and Houston and that’s not a trio of teams that is going to scare anyone this season. The Pacers got 20 points from Paul George and 18 points from Ian Mahinmi in the loss, but shot just 3-for-19 from three-point distance while allowing Chicago’s Jimmy Butler to hit the game-winner in the paint.

“We’ve got to read defense and they switched things,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “We didn’t make shots. Sometimes it’s a make or miss league.”

Paul George, who scored a team-best 20 points for Indiana, said the offense was stagnant down the stretch.

“Despite the looks we go, we’ve got to get better looks than that,” George said. “They executed down the stretch. I tip my cap to the Bulls.”

The good news is that the Pacers are 6-1 ATS in their last seven games following a straight up loss.

Expert Score and Final Prediction

I know Indiana is completely desperate, but in this contest, they’re going to face a younger, more athletic Orlando Magic ballclub that apparently wants to close out the season in style. Still, I’m going to urge you to back Indiana mostly because they’re playing at home. The Pacers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following an ATS loss and the Magic are 2-5 ATS in their last seven games following a straight up win. The Favorite in this rivalry is 6-0 ATS in the last half-dozen meetings and the Magic are 0-4 ATS in the last four road games against the Pacers.