NBA Expert Picks – Charlotte Bobcats at Orlando Magic

(7) Charlotte Bobcats at (2) Orlando Magic

The 10-point favorite Orlando Magic host the Charlotte Bobcats this Sunday at 5:35 PM at Amway Arena, trying to start on the right foot for their road to a NBA title in a must-bet game.

NBA Betting Odds

Charlotte Bobcats +10
Orlando Magic -10
O/U 187.5

Both teams were pretty good against the spread all regular season, but NBA betting fans should know playoffs are a different story. Most of the great teams stop messing around and get things done night in and night out.

The challenge for the inexperienced Bobcats is to stop the multi-lethal Magic offense. If you double team Dwight Howard, then Orlando will kill you with their perimeter shooting; and if you decide to cover the perimeter, Dwight Howard will crush the pain on his own.

If Charlotte can’t hold the Magic, their offense needs to step up because they barely average 95.3 PPG compared to the 102.8 PPG from Orlando. Keep in mind also that Stan Van Gundy’s team was the best squad in the league in the second half of the season, including an average scoring margin of -12.8 in the last quarter of the year.

The Bobcats, on the other side, just won 13 of the 41 road game played this season, not to mention a 13-29 straight up record every time they were listed as underdogs.

April seem to be an off month for Charlotte, as this season they are 2-6 ATS and 7-17 ATS in April in the last three seasons. Orlando is 7-1 ATS in April games including a 21-15 ATS in the last three seasons.

Also keep in mind that the Magic are 4-0 ATS when playing with 3 or more days rest and 11-4 ATS as a home favorite of 9.5 to 12 points, making them a safe bet however you look it.

Consider 7 of 12 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL.

My pick: Orlando will cover.