NBA Handicapping

Bookmakers monitor late-season Magic

Are the Orlando Magic going to make the playoffs this season? The answer to that question was a resounding 'No' just a short while ago, but a recent hot stretch by Florida's other NBA team has given them an outside shot at reaching the playoffs. And that means bookmakers will have to pay extra attention to the Magic over the final stretch of the regular season.

The Magic won their 10th straight home game on Monday night, getting 20 points and 16 rebounds from offensive leader Dwight Howard in a 105-88 whipping of the lowly Atlanta Hawks. Jameer Nelson had 17 points in that win, while Hedo Turkoglu turned in a 16-point performance. Orlando had been listed as 7.5-point home favorites on most lines, and had no trouble covering that posted spread.

Overall, Orlando has picked up victories in nine of their past 10 games, and are currently riding a five-game winning streak. They sat three games back of the Philadelphia 76ers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday morning, with five games remaining on their regular season schedule.

And the Magic's result against the Hawks wasn't their only one versus NBA odds of late. Their recent winning ways have also managed to boost their against-the-spread record on the season. Right now, Orlando sits with a 39-35-3 ATS overall record after 77 games, in comparison to their 33-44 straight-up mark.

Two games ago, against the state-rival Heat in Miami, the Magic had been listed by the books as 7.5-point underdogs but managed a 93-84 outright victory. The previous game, against the defending champion Pistons, Orlando was listed as a 4-point home underdog and again came away with an 89-87 outright win.

In their other two wins of this current streak, the Magic just failed to cover in a 108-105 home win over the Milwaukee Bucks, but rolled to a 108-99 straight-up and against-the-spread victory over the Dallas Mavericks. That win over the Mavs was on their own court on March 31, and kicked off their winning streak.

Orlando's next game is Wednesday night at home against the Toronto Raptors, where they'll be listed as the favorite. Magic supporters will be hoping that their team's recent ATS success will carry over to this matchup and reverse a trend against the Raptors; Orlando is only 3-7 ATS in their last 10 against Toronto.

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