NBA on Christmas Day Hornets vs Magic

Game-day: 12/25/2008

Tip-off: 12:00 pm est.

The Hornets have to be disappointed after dropping a game at home versus the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. They will try to make amends by beating the Orlando Magic in a Western Conference vs. Eastern Conference showdown on Christmas Day. New Orleans hasn’t been nearly as good of a team against the BetOnline online betting spread this season as they were last season. With a straight-up record of 16 and 8, the Hornets are still a good team, but they only have a record of 10-12-2 against the BetOnline online wagering spread. Their record against the spread on the road is 5-5-1. They will find things tough in this Christmas Day game because Tyson Chandler is only averaging nine points and he’s been outplayed by opposing centers at times. He will have to step it up for New Orleans to contend with Dwight Howard and the Magic.

The Orlando Magic has been very good this season going 22 and 6 straight-up. Against the BetOnline online betting spread the Magic are 18-9-1. What’s scary about this team is that they are doing all of this with Dwight Howard averaging only 11 points a game. That means that the rest of the Magic are stepping it up big time.

Here are my personal online NBA betting odds for this game:

New Orleans Hornets + 5 ½ – 110 O 192 ½ – 110

Orlando Magic – 5 ½ – 110 U 192 ½ – 110

Here are a few online wagering trends that might help us find a good online bet in this game:

The New Orleans Hornets are 1-6-1 in their last eight games against the spread versus a team with a winning record at home.

The Under is 6 and 0 in the New Orleans Hornets last 6 games overall.

The Orlando Magic is 8 and 0 against the spread in their last 8 games against a Western Conference opponent.

The Under is 4 and 1 in the Orlando Magic’s last five games overall.

The key with betting the BetOnline Total in this game is trying to determine exactly what the total will be. In my mind, I see the Magic and Hornets scoring below 100 each but roughly around 94 to 96 points each. So, the total of 192 ½ is what I believe the BetOnline Sportsbook odds makers will make it. If that is the total, or it’s more for some reason, then an online bet on the under makes a lot of sense because of the overall trends.

I also believe that the Magic, because of their fantastic straight-up record and record against the BetOnline online NBA betting spread, should be close to a six point favorite in this game. The Hornets are a good team but the Magic are playing very well right now.

If Orlando is a 5 ½ or less point favorite against the basketball betting spread, then they are a good online wager to cover. New Orleans can beat any team in the NBA if they put their minds to it and things go their way, but the Magic are one of the top five teams in the NBA right now.

I think the Magic will cover at 5 ½ points or less.