Orlando Magic vs. Miami Heat on Monday night: Betting Preview
The Orlando Magic head to Miami to face their division-rival Heat on Monday. After losing their first two games of the season, they finally notched a win in their third.
Now they’ll be facing a team that throttled the Milwaukee Bucks to start the season. The bad news for the Magic is that they’ll have plenty of players out of the lineup. Can they overcome the hurdle on Sunday night?
After starting their season with a bang, the Miami Heat lost steam in their second game. They faced off against the Indiana Pacers and lost 102 to 91. As they prepare to host the Orlando Magic, they could see Kyle Lowry rejoin the team.
If he does, this will give Miami a huge boost on the court. The question is, will it be enough to cover the rather large spread.
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Battling through injuries is what’s hurting the Magic here
The NBA is a tough league to be competitive in if you’re dealing with a ton of injuries. The Magic are a prime example of this, especially with how many players they have out. Still, they were able to overcome these obstacles and capture their first win on Sunday. Whether they’ll be able to do the same thing all over again is a different story.
Their opponent, the Miami Heat, isn’t dealing with nearly as many injuries. This obviously tilts the scales in the Heat’s direction. However, the Magic can find a way to overcome the injury bug as they did against the New York Knicks. It’ll be tough, but if the Magic follows how the Pacers beat the Heat, it’ll definitely help.
Costly turnovers by Miami handed the game over to the Pacers
Regardless of how great your team is, turnovers will inevitably lead to you losing games. When the Heat played the Pacers, they had a total of 27 turnovers. Any time you turn the ball over, that much nearly guarantees a win for your opponent. This is something that the Miami Heat will have to address going forward.
Taking on the Magic right now is a good matchup for the Heat. The only troublesome part is how large of a spread they’ll have to cover. In the NBA, anything over 10 points becomes a worrisome spread. The Heat have to cover a spread of 14 if they want to cover in this one. With BetUS and Bovada giving the same spread margin, are the Heat a safe pick this time?
Taking a look at the spread
As stated earlier, the Miami Heat come into the game as 14-point favorites per BetUS. Although the Heat is a better team on paper, 14 points is a lot to cover. The thing is, we know that the Heat have the ability to score well over 120 points. However, we also saw them regress to under 100 points against the Pacers.
Overall, these inconsistencies don’t give bettors much confidence to take them against the spread. The NBA is all about consistency, and that’s what worries us about Miami. The good news is that Kyle Lowry, an incredible scorer, could be back in the lineup. If he is, the 14-point spread becomes a little more realistic.
Our NBA Pick for Magic vs. Heat: Miami Heat -14
Although we’d like this spread to be much lower, we’ll still have to lean towards Miami here. They’re the better team and could be adding Kyle Lowry back to the lineup. After seeing how they performed against the Bucks, we know they’re capable of scoring a lot of points.
Expect Miami to secure a home win here and cover the spread. The Magic have a ton of injuries to battle through, which definitely won’t help them here. Even with the high points spread, the Heat are the better option at the sportsbook here.
