NBA Tuesday night and we will see the Orlando Magic travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bulls. The game is scheduled for an 8:00 pm start time and it will be televised live on Fox Sports Florida (Orlando) and Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Currently the odds have Chicago favored by 9 points with the total sitting at 187.5 points for the contest. Check out Sportsbook Spy to find out what side the Public is taking on all of today's games.
Free Analysis: Dwight Howard is gone and two of their starters have already been injured, but the Orlando Magic are off to a perfect start. The Magic have gotten off to a strong start with Howard gone to Los Angeles and new coach Jacque Vaughn on the bench, beating Denver 102-89 on Friday and Phoenix 115-94 on Sunday. But there are already injury concerns, with Hedo Turkoglu out for several weeks after breaking his hand against the Nuggets, and point guard Jameer Nelson again questionable after missing Sunday's game with a strained hamstring and groin. Glen "Big Baby" Davis got his chance to start in the final month last season when Howard was injured and he has carried over the strong play into this season. Davis is off to a fast start, averaging 25.5 points and 9.0 rebounds, and his contributions will be key after Orlando's depth at forward was depleted by Turkoglu's broken hand. Even with two key veterans hurting, Orlando has played well at both ends. The Magic have 50 assists on their 87 field goals, their bench has 81 points and five players are averaging 12 or more. They're also holding opponents to 40.6 percent shooting.
The Bulls (2-1) are missing their biggest star with Derrick Rose out, and fellow All-Star Luol Deng is off to a slow start with 13.3 points per game while playing a team-high 116 minutes. Without injured floor leader and 2010-11 MVP Derrick Rose, Chicago can expect to suffer from inconsistent play, particularly at the offensive end. That was more than evident in the Bulls' two weekend games, when they shot a blistering 63.8 percent in a blowout win at Cleveland, only to return home the next night and go down meekly in an 89-82 loss to a New Orleans squad playing without No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis. The lackluster effort caused Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau to bench three of his starters in the fourth quarter. There's no secret why Chicago fell to the Hornets after three starters - Richard Hamilton, Carlos Boozer and Kirk Hinrich - combined for only 10 points. The bench was a bright spot, led by veteran backup point guard Nate Robinson, who took advantage of increased playing time on the weekend to score 31 points in the two games. The Bulls are among the NBA's best in scoring defense (87.3 ppg) and field-goal defense (41.2 percent), but another uninspired effort could result in losing two straight at home in the regular season for the first time since a five-game skid March 1-19, 2010.
Free Pick: I will look to take the Under in this one. Both teams are missing or have key starters hobbling and that means that both teams will look for more of a defensive stand to win this game. The Bulls are allowing just 87.3 ppg and should slow down this Orlando team that will be missing Turkolu and possibly Jameer Nelson for this one. Orlando has averaged 108.5 ppg so far, but their first two game were vs bad defensive uptempo teams. The Bulls are not like that and they do slow the tempo at home. Chicago has averaged 96.7 ppg, but just 87.5 ppg in their two home games and the Magic have been playing great defense this year, allowing just 91.5 ppg on 40.6% shooting this year. This game will be aslow down game with both defenses stepping up big to keep this game under the total.
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