NBA action on Sunday will see a high-profile contest as the Orlando Magic travel to take on the Miami Heat. The game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ABC. Currently the odds have the Heat favored by 9.5 points with the total sitting at 192.5 points. In a bigtime matchup between two of the most talented teams in the league, who will prevail?
Free Analysis: The Miami Heat enter today's game one of the hottest teams in the league, winners of 13 of 15 games and five straight victories. The Orlando Magic, on the other hand, are still trying to figure out whether or not they are going to trade superstar center Dwight Howard. Orlando has actually played fairly well on the road this season, winning eight of their 13 games away from home. While that isn't the best mark in the league, it's still pretty decent. However, the Heat are one of the best teams in the NBA at home, sporting a 12-2 record at AmericanAirlines Arena. Orlando has won four straight games to climb within four games of the Southeast leading Heat. They've also won 8 of 10 games overall as well. "We definitely don't wanna take the foot off the gas, we're playing some great basketball," LeBron James said after Miami went a season-best 14 of 21 from 3-point range in a 111-87 win at Cleveland on Friday night. Since losing to the Magic back on Feb. 8 the Heat have won every game they've played. In that game Howard had 25 points and 24 rebounds while the Magic made 17 3-pointers on a team-record 42 attempts. Those are some incredible numbers. It's practical to believe that won't happen again. The Magic are, however, 11-0 when hitting 12 or more 3-pointers and 15-1 when making at least 40 percent beyond the arc as they are one of the better teams in the league at knocking down triples. Miami's perimeter defense will be crucial in closing out on Orlando's shooters in this game. On Friday night Orlando struggled from downtown, connecting on just 9-of-29 shots from long distance and they didn't lead for most of the first 3.5 quarters against a visiting Milwaukee Bucks team that had lost six of eight. However, Orlando was able to score the last 17 points of the game to win by nine points and cover by a single point. Hedo Turkoglu connected for 10 points in the fourth quarter. Howard finished with 26 points and 20 rebounds in a monster game. In the previous three games, Howard averaged 13.0 points and 11.7 boards, both well below his season marks, but Orlando went 42 of 92 (45.7 percent) from 3-point range. Miami is the only team better than Orlando from downtown. The Heat have connected on more than 40 percent of their triples this season. Dwyane Wade said he thinks his team is playing their best basketball of the season and it's hard to argue against that. The Magic probably feel the same as they are looking to keep Howard around town. Ryan Anderson scored 27 and hit five 3-pointers earlier this month against Miami while Wade had 33 points in that game, but the Heat are 0-2 when he scores more than 30 this season. If he has a big game, the Magic have a pretty good chance of staying around in the game, for whatever reason.
Free Pick: I like the Magic getting almost 10 points in this game. Both of these clubs are playing really well right now and I think getting 9.5 points in this spot is a good get for us, even though Orlando is on the road. Normally taking a team on the road that is getting close to double digits can be a bad scenario, but with the way Orlando is playing offensively and defensively, it's a good positional spot.
Free Picks: Magic at Heat Betting
Revenge game for the Heat and Magic's strengths is Heat's weakness plus other factors NBA bettors need to know about Magic at Heat (Sunday, February 19, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Bryan Leonard and analysis from host Vegas Runner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr6heyQ7y4c&feature=player_embedded