NBA Basketball
2012-04-30 - Orlando Magic at Indiana Pacers
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball Eastern Conference Play Off First Round
Monday 30 April 2012 - Tip Off 7:30pm ET
12:30am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The Indiana Pacers looked like being the big favourites in this series as they were facing an Orlando Magic team that is missing their best player, Dwight Howard, but the Pacers have already given up home court advantage.
Indiana were beaten by 4 points in a low-scoring game 1 between the teams, but they blew a 7 point lead with just minutes remaining in the fourth quarter as they failed to add to their lead, failing to score a basket in the final 5 minutes.
Frank Vogel had warned his team before the series began that they cannot afford to listen to the 'experts' who had the Pacers coming through this one with relative ease. He would be happy to hear the likes of Danny Granger and Darren Collison speaking that this is not the time to panic as it is still a seven game series and it is only 0-1.
Orlando themselves have been talking up their chances of taking a two game lead back to Florida, with Ryan Anderson being most vocal about that situation.
Indiana will look for Roy Hibbert to have a bigger game- it was expected that he would be able to dominate in the paint without the presence of Dwight Howard against him. However, Ryan Anderson and Glen Davis combined to prevent Hibbert having a big presence offensively, although David West did have a good game without Howard blocking him off.
Head to Head
Orlando have now improved to 4-1 in the season series between these two teams.
The Magic are 6-1 against the spread in the last 7 games in the series.
Indiana have lost their last 6 home games against Orlando, going 1-5 against the spread in those games.
Prediction
I am going to back the Indiana Pacers to at least square the series and cover the spread in this game for the following reasons:
First, Orlando had an emotional win in the first game and they may have a little less focus now that home court advantage has been gained. Indiana should be plenty focused to ensure they at least earn a split of the first two games here.
Second, the Pacers have gone 7-6 against the spread when coming off a loss as a favourite, while Orlando are just 4-4 when winning the game as the underdog.
Third, Indiana would likely have covered the spread in the first game but kind of fell apart down the stretch- with the extra focus, and Orlando perhaps looking ahead to taking this series back home, they should be able to cover this spread.
The Pick :
Indiana Pacers 95-85 Orlando Magic
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back the Indiana Pacers -9.5 Points @ 2.00
