Beasts of the East – Orlando Magic vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

Orlando takes on the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Tuesday night in a game that could solidify the favorite in the Eastern Conference. Even though Boston is still playing well, with Kevin Garnett on the bench, Cleveland and Orlando have been downright dominating lately. Orlando is coming off of a victory over the Utah Jazz. Their straight-up record is 49 and 17. Their overall record against the spread is 42-23-1. Their record ATS on the road is 22-10-1.

The Cavs are tied with the L.A. Lakers for the best record in the NBA. Cleveland is 53 and 13 straight-up. Their record against the spread overall is 42 and 24. Their record ATS at home is 23 and 7.

Here is the betting line for this game.

Orlando Magic +6 -110 O 193 ½ -110

Cleveland Cavaliers -6 -110 U 193 ½ -110

Here are a few online wagering trends for this game.

The Orlando Magic is 8 and 1 ATS in the last 9 meetings between these two teams.

The Orlando Magic is 5 and 1 against the spread in their last 6 games versus a team with a winning straight-up record.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 9 and 1 ATS in their last 10 games versus a team with a winning road record.

The Under is 7 and 2 in the last 9 meetings between these two teams.

The last time these two teams met the score ended up 99 to 88 with Orlando winning. That’s a total of 187 points. In that game LeBron James had 23 points and 8 rebounds while Dwight Howard had 22 points and 18 rebounds. Orlando also had Jameer Nelson running the point.

They won’t in this game with Rafer Alston taking over for the injured Nelson. But will the total change all that much?

Both Orlando and Cleveland will run when faced with a running team, but both teams prefer to work the ball for a good shot. Orlando in particular would prefer to get Howard involved early. That means dumping the ball into their superstar center and letting him take charge.

LeBron’s style is to get his big men going first before taking over a game. I see the score in this one being very close to the 187 that these two teams put up in late January.

That’s the bet that I’ll be making. I’m going to say that the game between Orlando and Cleveland goes under the 193 ½ total in the sportsbook.