Charlotte Bobcats (44-38 SU 44-37-1 ATS) vs. Orlando Magic (59-23 SU 44-33-5 ATS) Amway Arena, Orlando, FL 7 PM EST Wednesday April 21, 2010 on TNT
by Jason Green at Predictem.com
Point Spread: Bobcats +9 / Magic -9
Over/Under: 186
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In Game 2 of an Eastern Conference playoff first round series the Orlando Magic host the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats are looking for their first playoff win in franchise history and unless they play better perimeter defense than they did in Game 1 they will have to wait a little longer. In Game 1 Orlando won, as their backcourt shredded Charlotte.
This season Orlando was 34-7 at home and Charlotte was 13-28 on the road.
In Game 1 the Magic beat the Bobcats 98-89 on Sunday.
The Bobcats were focused on containing Dwight Howard and they did that for the most part, as he only had 5 points and 7 rebounds, but the backcourt duo of Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis combined to score 51 points on 18/29 shooting.
While Nelson and Lewis played great in Game 1 Vince Carter only had 12 points on 4/19 shooting.
For the game the Magic shot lights out from deep hitting on 13/30 of their 3-point shots for a 3-pt FG% of 43.3%. The Bobcats need to not only focus on Howard in tonight’s game and play some perimeter defense as well.
Howard did not have a big scoring game, but was Orlando’s leading rebounder with 7 boards, as the Magic really hit the glass as a team. Howard did have 9 blocked shots in the game and played solid on defense.
Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson have to be the big guys on offense for the Bobcats to win tonight. Wallace had a solid Game 1 and even though Jackson had 18 points he missed all 3 of his 3-point shots and was only 6/18 from the floor.
The Bobcats had 14 turnovers in Game 1 and they have to take better care of the ball tonight.
In Game 1 the high scorer for Orlando was Jameer Nelson going for 32 points on 10/18 shooting, including hitting on 4/8 3-pointers, and the high scorer for Charlotte was Gerald Wallace going for 25 points on 8/13 shooting. For the game the Magic shot 33/74 from the floor for a FG% of 44.6% and the Bobcats shot 33/71 for a FG% of 46.5%. The Magic out-rebounded the Bobcats (41-34) and the Bobcats had 14 turnovers while the Magic only had 7.
This season the Magic ranked 6th in the league in scoring (102.8 ppg) while the Bobcats only ranked 28th (95.3 ppg). On defense the Bobcats ranked 1st in opponents’ points allowed (93.8 ppg) and the Magic ranked 4th (95.3 ppg). The Magic were a better team on the boards this season with a rebounding differential of +3.2 while the Bobcats were at a respectable +1.2.
According to the Sagarin NBA ratings the Magic rank 2nd (96.43) and the Bobcats rank 15th (90.96).
Charlotte is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games against teams with a winning percentage above 60%, 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 road games against teams with a winning home record, and 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games against teams with a winning record.
Charlotte has an Under record of 7-0-1 in their last 8 games as a road underdog and an Under record of 7-2-1 in their last 10 road games.
Orlando is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games, 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 home games, and 20-7-1 ATS in their last 28 games as a favorite.
Orlando has an Over record of 3-0-1 in their last 4 home games and an Over record of 4-1-1 in their last 6 games as a favorite.
On the injury front SG Stephen Jackson is day-to-day for Charlotte while Orlando is not reporting any significant injuries.
Jason’s Pick: The Bobcats have to change their tactics in this game, as Howard did not dominate and the Bobcats still lost by 9 points. I believe the Magic will win this game but Bobcats get the money. Take Charlotte at +9.