Atlanta Hawks vs. Orlando Magic Prediction, NBA Odds
The Magic are priced as 5-point favourites on the NBA odds with a total of 217 points.
Hawks vs. Magic NBA Betting Odds
Let’s give a quick refresher on how the NBA’s Play-In Tournament works. Atlanta-Orlando and Memphis-Golden State are tonight and feature the No. 7 seeds hosting the No. 8s in their respective conferences. Both winners advance to the full-field playoffs as the No. 7 seed, and in the Hawks-Magic case would face Eastern Conference No. 2 seed and defending NBA champion Boston in Round 1 this weekend.
The 9 vs. 10 games are both Wednesday: Miami at Chicago and Dallas at Sacramento. Both losers there are done for the season. The winners would visit the 7 vs. 8 losers on Friday for the conference’s No. 8 overall seed. In the East, that winner would then face Cleveland in Round 1.
These clubs split four regular-season matchups and just played Sunday in Atlanta with the Hawks rolling 117-105 to finish on a three-game winning streak overall and end Orlando’s five-game winning streak. But throw that out as nearly every key player on both sides rested with the teams locked into their playoff seed. The franchises haven’t met in the playoffs since 2011.
Technically, the NBA’s doesn’t count the Play-In games as the playoffs but not as regular season, either. All statistics somewhat end up in limbo.
Atlanta Hawks
It’s the fourth straight Play-In appearance for Atlanta. In 2022, it entered as the ninth-place team in the East and beat Charlotte and Cleveland to earn the No. 8. In 2023, the Hawks entered as the No. 8 seed and beat Miami to earn the No. 7. Last year, they were the No. 10 and lost immediately to Chicago and were out. All-Star guard Trae Young has a history of big playoff performances and had a fine regular season in averaging 24.2 points and a league-best 11.6 assists – the highest by any player since the 2020-21 season. Young also leads the NBA with 534 fourth-quarter points. The team also appeared to get it right in taking France’s Zaccharie Risacher at No. 1 overall in the 2024 draft. He got more comfortable as the season went on and averaged 14.6 points on 50 per cent from the field and 41 per cent from deep since the All-Star break. The Hawks are one of the league’s worst defensive teams in allowing 119.3 points per game and opponents to shoot 48.1 per cent from the field despite having one of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders in guard Dyson Daniels, who leads the NBA in steals. The Hawks are 4-1 ATS in their past five on the road.
Orlando Magic
Orlando is a young team that got its first taste of playoff basketball last year when it lost to Cleveland in Round 1 of the postseason despite winning all three at home — so at least there should be some confidence off that. The Magic started this season 10-0 at home but then went just 12-19 in their final 31 at the Kia Center. They also had their Big 3 of guard Jalen Suggs and forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner for only six total games with Suggs out for the season. Both Banchero, who leads the team in scoring, rebounds and assists, and Wagner missed several weeks as well early but are healthy now. While Atlanta struggles defensively, the Magic lead the league in scoring defence (105.5 PPG) and are second in defensive rating (109.1). When Orlando scores at least 110 points, it is 26-7 compared to 15-34 when not. The Magic are 4-1 ATS in their past five at home vs. the Hawks.
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