Orlando Magic vs Los Angeles Lakers betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game. Just 2 nights after a disappointing loss at home to Indiana, the Lakers will try to turn things around in Florida as they take on the Orlando Magic. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Orlando Magic
The Magic are on a run of 3 straight losses and are coming off a 13-point defeat at Philadelphia as they allowed Joel Embiid to drop 50 points on them in just 27 minutes of play. Luckily for them though, the Lakers don’t have such a dominant inside presence at the center position, so things might play out differently tonight. Orlando has just 1 win in their last 14 games, that was at Charlotte a week ago as they beat the Hornets 116-109 behind a big night from the Wagner brothers which ended a 10-game losing streak. Leading scorer Cole Anthony had only 8 points in that game, he will have to step his game up if the Magic want to surprise the Lakers at home here. Their record at the Amway Center is just 2-16 SU this season, the worst in the entire NBA. They’ve also covered just 4 times in those 18 games, however one interesting stat worth pointing out is that they’ve beaten the Lakers 9 times in the last 12 games played at home.
Los Angeles Lakers
What LA has coming into this game is a motivated 37-year old LeBron James who is putting up MVP type numbers, but his team is far from a contender at this point of the season. The Lakers are under .500 and there are strong indicators of Frank Vogel getting fired soon if the situation doesn’t resolve itself. Russell Westbrook is also blamed because of the poor record, he got benched over the last 5 mins in the game vs Indiana, it’ll be interesting to see if he starts from the bench from now on. LA has covered in just 1 of their last 5 games, plus against the Magic they’ve done so just twice in the last 9 meetings. Laker nation is eagerly anticipating the return of Anthony Davis who is recovering from an MCL injury, but there is still no date set for his comeback.
Lakers are in a tough spot, but they are far more talented than this young Orlando team which isn’t all that motivated to win here. Prior to the loss vs Indiana, the Lakers beat a contending Utah Jazz team, so on a good night this team can beat everyone. I expect a solid performance tonight, so let’s back the road team to cover here.
LA Lakers -5.5 Point Spread is available at -110 odds on bet365
Orlando Magic vs Los Angeles Lakers Predictions & Odds
After several games of no defense, the Lakers have actually improved over their last 2 games holding Indiana to 111 points and the Jazz to just 95 points, so the question is can they sustain that effort? Tonight they are playing a very limited Orlando Magic team which scores just 101.7 points per game this season, the 2nd lowest mark in the NBA. Over their last 3 games they’ve averaged just 96.7 points per game and the recent head-to-head trends are pointing to a low scoring game here. The Lakers and Magic have gone under the total in 12 of 16 games and over the last 10 they’ve averaged just 213.8 points per game. In the 3 most recent meetings, the total is even lower at just 202 points per game with the under cashing twice. The 2 teams also have an identical 9-9 record on the O/U on the road and at home, so taking all that into consideration I think the smart bet here is to back the under.
Under 221 Total Points is available at -110 odds on bet365
