Orlando Magic vs. Brooklyn Nets Free NBA Pick

NBA Picks

NBA Betting Trends

NBA Pick/Preview

It has been a fairly steady downward spiral for Orlando this season with an overall record of 14-28 straight-up and a 20-22-1 record against the spread. Sunday night’s 104-102 loss to Detroit was its fifth straight and ninth in its last 11 games. The Magic are 6-13 SU (12-6-1 ATS) on the road and the total has gone OVER in eight of their last 11 games overall.

Orlando comes into this matchup ranked 20th in the NBA in both scoring (95.4) and points allowed (99.0) Its leading scorer has been Arron Afflalo with an average of 16.7 points a game. Jameer Nelson is averaging 15.3 points a game while leading the team in assists (7.4) and steals (1.4). The Magic are shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point range but this has obviously not translated into too many wins this year. Afflalo did tweak his calf in the loss to the Pistons but is listed as probable for Monday night.

Brooklyn finds itself right in the thick of the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference at 26-18 SU but riding a two-game losing streak of its own. After going 2-2 on a recent four-game road trip, it returns to the friendly confines of the Barclays Center where it has won its last seven games and is 16-7 SU overall. The Nets are 20-21-3 ATS this year and 10-10-3 ATS at home. The total has gone OVER in five of their last eight games.

The star power runs quite a bit deeper on this team with three players averaging over 17 points a game. Brook Lopez has led the way with 18.6 points with Joe Johnson and Deron Williams close behind. Williams leads the team in assists with 7.8 and Reggie Evans is the top rebounder with 8.9 a game. Brooklyn is averaging 96 points a game, but its real strength lies in a defense that is holding opponents to just 94.8 points, which is ranked fifth in the NBA.

Prediction

The Magic will obviously have their hands full on Monday after coming up short against the Nets by a combined 59 points in the first three meetings this season. There is no reason to believe that anything will be different this time around as Brooklyn cruises to another double-digit victory that more than covers the 9.5 points.

Brooklyn 93 Orlando 80