basketball | Friday, January 20, 2023 11:41 AM

Orlando Magic vs New Orleans Pelicans Best Bet: Inter-Conference Showdown

Milan Stanojic

Orlando Magic vs New Orleans Pelicans Best Bet: Friday, January 20th

The Orlando Magic welcome the New Orleans Pelicans tonight at Amway Center for an inter-conference Friday night showdown. Both teams have been in poor form recently, combining for a 6-20 record, but only one of them actually has some betting value tonight. Read the article below for my analysis & best bet.

In this article:

Orlando Magic vs New Orleans Pelicans Preview
Orlando Magic vs New Orleans Pelicans Best Bet

Orlando Magic vs New Orleans Pelicans Preview

Fri, Jan 20th. 23:00 (UK time)

Despite standing 13th n the Eastern Conference, it’s arguably been a solid season for this young Orlando Magic squad. They haven’t been winning all that much, but their performances have been nothing to scoff at, avoiding blowout losses and earning the respect of a lot of NBA teams. They are the 3rd best team against the spread this season with a record of 24-18-2 and have been amazing at home recently, covering in 7 of their last 10. The Magic are coming off a 5-game road trip and will be looking forward to playing in front of home fans again.

The Magic are one of those teams that are still trying to find their game, and scoring has been their biggest issue this year. There’s little use in mentioning their statistics on the season, as we all know exactly how bad they are, ranking in the 20-30s
In most offensive and defensive categories. However, their net rating shifts from -6 when playing on the road to -1.1 when playing at Amway Center. Not groundbreaking, but they get overlooked a lot and punters often refrain from backing them. Big mistake! The Magic have covered the spread in 4 of their last 5 games!

But that’s not the biggest reason for my tip tonight. The New Orleans Pelicans have been struggling left and right with the absence of Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson from their lineup. The Pels have won just 3 of their last 10 games and are on a 2-game losing streak. Their road record hasn’t been the best for such a talented team at 9-13 and they have been one of the worst road sides ATS with the same record. With Zion and BI still on the injury report, it’s hard to imagine them bouncing back.

The Pelicans were already shaky on the road, to begin with, but over their last 10 games, they have covered the spread in just 3 of their last 10 games. They are also 3-10 on the road against the spread recently and are coming off a 98-124 loss to the Miami Heat. They have managed to keep their defence somewhat respectable, but they have ranked 25th in offensive rating over their last 10.

Orlando Magic vs New Orleans Pelicans Best Bet

But despite all of this, the bookies are still giving them a slight edge, giving up a point in the handicap market, and around 80% of bettors are picking them to win according to Unibet. But backing the home dog on a Friday night isn’t something I can pass up, especially when it’s against an already shaky opponent with injuries to their top 2 guys.

However, seeing as how the line is so small, I have no problem backing the Magic in the moneyline to get the job done.