posted March 5, 2008 at 15:50 in NBA Betting Trends

Orlando Magic (39-23) vs. Washington Wizards (29-30)

Wednesday, March 5th --- Verizon Center, Washington --- 7:00pm EST

NBA Betting Line: Orlando -1 (201)

I spent about twenty minutes trying to figure out the title of this article. For fear of being deemed a total douchebag, I scrapped the titles “Battle of Sorcery” and “Who’s Got The Magic Stick now”. Then before I got too obsessed with trying to be humorous, I realized that I had too many Eastern Conference games to cover today, I just went with this humdinger. Let me know if it sucks.

The Magic finally got a monkey off their back by dispatching of the Bosh-less Raptors on Tuesday and covering the spread. They are now 5-1 ATS in their past 6 games and continue to enjoy a slew of success against Eastern Conference teams. So why the tight line against a Wizards team under .500 and without its two major stars?

Well the Wizards are also 5-1 ATS and SU despite the absence of Arenas and Tough Juice. The problem for the Wizards is that this 5-1 record is coming off the heels of a 5-11 SU record in their past 16 games. Antawn Jamison deserves all the credit in Washington for emerging as a considerable hardwood presence despite the loss of the team’s top two scorers. Jamison answered the call by averaging 21.2 points per game and pulling down 10.4 boards. But the team after him looks thin at best. So why the tight line?

To be honest, I’m not quite sure. Orlando is not only 4-2 SU in their past 6 road games and 7-2-1 ATS in their past 10 games when playing on the road at Washington. Orlando looks like a deadly team. Hedo Turkoglu is probably the most underrated player in the league for what he does. In the last five games he has 21.4 points per, 6.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists. This goes without mentioning the line I use all too often: who in the hell is going to guard Dwight Howard?

Without a formidable paint presence, Howard will continue to blossom of one of the NBA’s elite big men as he dominates this game. The Magic can match the perimeter shooting of Washington, which averages 98.0 points per game. Orlando rocks the rim for 104.3 points per game, while allowing 100.2 points against. I love the way the Wizards play defense, but the Magic look relentless in establishing themselves as contenders in the Eastern Conference and simply have too much star power to lose to Washington by less than five.

NBA Betting Free Pick: Orlando -1 (UNDER)

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