Pointspread: Orlando -1.5 Over/Under: 203 The Orlando Magic bring a three-game winning streak into Madison Square Garden tonight to face the New York Knicks, who have lost their last three games. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
Orlando currently has a stranglehold on the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference with a five game lead over Atlanta, but it still has its sights set on winning the Southeast Division given that the Magic are just 3 ½-games in back of Miami. Their 97-86 win over Cleveland on Monday as a 12-point road favorite raised their overall record to 42-26 straight-up, but dropped them to 30-40-1 against the spread.
Dwight Howard scored 28 points and pulled down 18 rebounds against the Cavaliers and continues to lead the way for Orlando with 23 points and 14.3 rebounds a game. Jason Richardson is second in scoring with 14.2 points a game and Jameer Nelson leads the team in assists with six a game. The Magic are shooting 46.2 percent from the floor and scoring 99.7 points a game.
New York finds itself in desperate need of a few wins after falling to seventh-place in the East standings with a 4-6 SU record in its last 10 games. The Knicks followed up a 100-95 loss to Milwaukee this past Sunday as a two-point road favorite with a 96-86 loss to Boston as a 1 ½-point home underdog on Monday night. They are now 35-35 SU and 40-38-2 ATS.
With Amar?e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony each averaging around 25 points a game and Chauncey Billips averaging close to 20 it is no surprise that New York is the second highest scoring team in the NBA. The main problem with this team is its inability or lack of desire to play defense. The plan of trying to outscore your opponent every night is just not getting the job done.
Orlando has a 2-0 series edge this season with a 112-103 victory on Dec.30 as a 7 ½-point home favorite and a 116-110 win earlier this month as a seven-point home favorite. This time around the Knicks find a way to stop their recent slide in a game that goes well over the 203 point total line.
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