Friday night in the NBA will see the Dallas Mavericks take on the Orlando Magic. The game is scheduled for a 8:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on ESPN. Currently the odds have Orlando favored by 5 points with the total sitting at 186.5 points for the contest.
Free Analysis: The Mavericks are looking forward to another visit to Orlando on Friday when they take on the Magic in part two of their Florida road trip. The Mavs couldn’t keep up in Miami on Thursday, but Dallas has won its annual visit to the Magic Kingdom, SU and ATS, in each of the past five seasons. More than anything, the Mavs were done in by sixth man Jason Terry’s atrocious shooting night on Thursday. Terry (14.9 PPG) had seemingly found a nice rhythm in his previous four games, averaging 19.3 PPG and hitting 39.3% of his threes. But in Miami he had just three points on 1-for-10 shooting in the 106-85 loss. It wasn’t all bad news for Dallas though. PF Dirk Nowitzki (21.1 PPG) scored 25 and is averaging 25.9 PPG over his past nine games. PF Lamar Odom (7.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG) showed some signs of life for a second straight game as he had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists over 23 minutes, while Brandan Wright (6.5 PPG) scored in double-digits for a third straight game. Help is on the way for Dallas, as. guard Delonte West played for the first time since breaking a finger on Feb. 15, and center Brendan Haywood (knee) is expected to return Friday after missing seven games. The Mavs are one of the best defensive teams in the league as they have allowed just 93.3 ppg (7th) on 43.1% shooting (7th), but the have struggled at that end of the floor on the road of late. The Mavericks, have lost nine of 11 away from home and have given up an average of 104.2 points over their last six road games. The Magic (32-19) scored a season-high 117 points in a win over Toronto on Monday, but they followed with a 108-86 loss at New York on Wednesday that snapped their three-game winning streak. Orlando has split its last eight games - all decided by double digits - with the four defeats coming by an average of 17.3 points. Coach Stan Van Gundy has been perplexed by the up-and-down performances given Orlando is in third place in the Eastern Conference. The Magic have scored fewer than 70 points four times, including a franchise-low 56 in a loss to Boston on Jan. 23 and most recently in an 85-59 defeat to Chicago on March 19. Van Gundy told the team's official website. "It will happen some if you are a bad team. But to be a .600 team and get crushed like that as many times as we have, that's shocking." Orlando, though, has been very tough at home in March. The Magic are 6-2 SU and ATS at the Amway Center this month, where they’ve held opponents to 90.4 PPG. In their eight home games so far in March, Nelson has hit 51.3% FG and 48.4% from three, averaging 12.0 PPG. Howard has averaged 24.4 PPG on 71.8% FG (though only 47.4% from the line) and 13.5 RPG. Howard has been a monster in his past five meetings with Dallas, averaging 26.0 PPG on 59.5% FG, 16.6 RPG and 3.0 BPG. Overall the Magic have also been a very good defensive team this year as they have allowed 92.2 ppg (4th) on 43.8% shooting (10th), while at home they have allowed just 91.1 ppg on 43.2% shooting. Dallas is just 12-13 ATS away from home, while Orland is 15-11 ATS at home.
Free Pick: Gonna go with Magic here. Dallas is in a tough spot here. In their last 7 games the Mavs have faced Houston twice, San Antonio twice, Denver, the Lakers and Miami and now they must take on an angry Orlando team that was just lambasted by the Knicks on Wednesday night. The Magic have responded of late when playing at home off a loss as they have gone 5-0 SU & ATS in their last 5 in that situation, while outscoring those 5 teams by an average of 12.2 ppg. Being a defennsive minded coach Van Gundy does not take to kindly to giving up many points as he is 50-21 ATS after allowing 105 points or more as the coach of Orlando. That's a 70.4% stat. Coming of the tough stretch of games that they have, including a big game vs Miami Last night, the Mavs are in a tough spot here and i look for the Magic to bounce back behind Howard, who has averaged 30.0 points and 16.7 boards in his last three home games in the series.
Free Picks: Mavs at Magic Betting
http://PregameVideos.com - Bad schedule spot for Mavs and Magic has only lost one game to non-elite team since All Star break plus other factors NBA bettors need to know about Mavs at Magic (Friday, March 30, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Bryan Leonard and analysis from host Vegas Runner.