NBA: Orlando at Portland (10:30 PM ET, ESPN)
The nightcap of ESPN’s Friday night twinbill pits the Orlando Magic and the Portland Trailblazers. The line for the contest opened with Orlando as a lofty 5.5-point road favorite at Sportsbook.com, due much in part to the injury woes of the hosts. In part
2010-01-15
The nightcap of ESPN’s Friday night twinbill pits the Orlando Magic and the Portland Trailblazers. The line for the contest opened with Orlando as a lofty 5.5-point road favorite at Sportsbook.com, due much in part to the injury woes of the hosts. In particular, the Blazers’ Brandon Roy is shown as questionable for the game. Get more key info on this game and the full board of 13 Friday contests on the GAME MATCHUPS page.
The Orlando Magic had one of the league’s best road records last season, but they’ve been dreadful away from Amway Arena of late, losing seven of nine (2-6-1 ATS) following eight consecutive victories. Perhaps a trip to Portland will get them back on track - particularly if two-time All-Star Roy can’t go.
The Magic try to become the only team with an active four-game winning streak at the Rose Garden on Friday night against the injury-riddled Trail Blazers, who with one more loss will eclipse their home total from last season.
Orlando (26-13, 19-18-2 ATS) was 27-14 on the road in 2008-09, and came up with five more key victories on opponents’ home courts before reaching the NBA finals.
The Magic started 10-2 on the road this season, but have hardly been the same team lately. Orlando opened its four-game road trip with an impressive 109-88 win in Sacramento on Tuesday, but was outscored 65-44 in the second half of a 115-97 loss to Denver one night later in its third straight game without Vince Carter. “We clearly got totally dominated in the second half,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I’m very disappointed.”
Dwight Howard was held to eight points on 1 of 7 shooting a night after dominating the Kings with 30 points and 16 rebounds. The Magic fell to 6-8 when Howard is held to seven field-goal attempts or fewer and they are 3-7 ATS in last 10 against teams with winning record.
Possibly Orlando’s pride will shine through after being hammered by the Nuggets, since they are 20-7 ATS after losing by 10 or more points.
Carter, whose status going forward is unclear, went 1 of 14 when Portland (24-16, 21-18-1 ATS) visited Orlando on Dec. 19, but Howard’s 20 rebounds - part of a 54-35 advantage overall - helped the Magic overcome 42.1 percent shooting and 33 points from Roy to win 92-83.
That was Orlando’s sixth victory in seven games in the series. The Magic have won three straight in Portland, including a 109-108 win on Dec. 9, 2008, behind 27 from Lewis and 21 from Nelson.
Cleveland is the only other team with three consecutive wins in the Rose Garden after beating the Blazers 106-94 on Sunday, a seventh home loss that matched last season’s total in Portland.
The Blazers, though, bounced back with one of their best offensive performances of the season. Roy scored 22, LaMarcus Aldridge 21 and Andre Miller 19 as the Blazers shot a season-high 60.3 percent in a 120-108 win over Milwaukee on Wednesday. Roy, however, left with Portland up 30 late in the third quarter due to a strained right hamstring. He’s considered questionable to play Friday. Portland is also a questionable 2-7-1 ATS after allowing 100 or more points.
The Blazers have been alarming on Friday night’s with sparkling 11-2 ATS of late and 7-2 OVER if opponent has overall winning record. Orlando has covered 60 of previous 89 contests off a SU defeat and is 19-7 UNDER in that same situation.
The StatFox Power Lines for this game shows Portland a Pick
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