NBA Action – Nuggets Roll into Orlando

(35-17 SU, 29-21-1 ATS) Denver Nuggets at Orlando Magic (38-12 SU, 33-16-1 ATS)

BetOnline NBA Betting Odds: ORLANDO -8.5, Total 209.5

Here are some of the NBA sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* DEN has won five of its last six games SU

* DEN has covered eight of its last 11 games

* DEN has played four of its last six games OVER the total

* ORL has covered 11 of its last 15 games

* ORL has won 19 of its last 25 games SU

* ORL has played four of its last six games UNDER the total

* ORL has covered four of its last five home games

* ORL has won 15 of its last 17 home games SU

* ORL has played 11 of its last 15 home games UNDER the total

Also…

* ORL has covered 14 of the last 21 meetings

* ORL has won 18 of the last 23 meetings SU

* ORL has won and covered the last five meetings as the home team

* ORL has had the shooting edge in five of the last eight meetings

* ORL has made more three-pointers in each of the last five meetings

Denver got destroyed on Saturday night in New Jersey, going down to a 114-70 defeat. On Tuesday night they were breathing fire as they came out and blasted the Miami Heat 99-82 at the American Airlines Arena. Carmelo Anthony actually had an off night, scoring 19 points on five-for-15 shooting. Chauncey Billups was the main cog, as he scored 23, including a trio of three-pointers while the Nuggets were almost 51% from the field.

Orlando caught a tough break when Jameer Nelson, the pint-sized guard and former college player of the year, who was the Magic’s acknowledged team leader and recently named an All-Star for the first time, went down with a shoulder injury, likely for the season. In his first start for the Magic, Anthony Johnson, who filled in at point guard for Nelson, had 25 points, but he has not come close to that since. We would expect that Tyronn Lue, recently picked up from Milwaukee, will log something more than just token playing time at the point.

Sure, the Magic will struggle a bit in the backcourt from time to time, but it was the front line that caused all kinds of problems for the Nuggets when these teams met on January 17. Between Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu combined to shoot 51%; Turkoglu had 31 points and Howard had 20 rebounds. Denver has to defend that here, and may have trouble.

The Nuggets exorcised a little frustration with last night’s game at Miami. To make it back-to-back may be too big a task, as Orlando has been a 67% proposition against the number this season and has rested for a couple of days prior to this game. Remember that Orlando can hit threes (10.4 per game) and extend leads. We’ll lay the 8.5 points with the Magic in the BetOnline Sportsbook NBA pro basketball sports betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: ORLANDO -8.5 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay makes his share of shots from the top of the key as a contributor to the BetOnline Locker Room)