The Southeast’s top team, the Charlotte Hornets (14-9), travel to the Amway Center to square off against the division rival Orlando Magic (13-11). The game starts at 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Dec. 16 and will air on FxF and FxS.
The Magic won big over the Nets 105-82 on Monday. Elfrid Payton played well, contributing 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists for the Magic. The Hornets, meanwhile, are coming off a 98-93 loss to the Celtics on Saturday. Jeremy Lin posted 14 points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
Points at the line might be difficult to come by for the Magic in this contest. They are 30th in the league in free throw attempt rate (22.2), while Charlotte is among the league’s least foul-prone teams (allowing a free throw attempt rate of just 23.1, third in the NBA).
Oddsmakers have deemed this game an even matchup and the Over/Under (O/U) is 197 points. The Magic are attempting to build on their records of 13-11 Straight Up (SU) and 17-7 Against The Spread (ATS). In their last 10 games, they are 9-1 ATS.
Across the court, Charlotte has a SU record of 14-9 and an ATS record of 13-9-1. Against teams in its division, Charlotte is 3-1-1 ATS, but has only managed a SU record of 2-3. The Hornets rarely make costly errors handling the ball. They have the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league at 1.84. The Hornets have established a reputation of cleaning up the defensive glass with 35.7 defensive rebounds per game, making them one of the top five teams in the league. The Hornets are in for a physical game against Orlando. The Magic are not afraid to send opponents to the free throw line, averaging 22.9 fouls per game.
This is the first meeting of the season for the Magic and the Hornets. The last time they played Charlotte came out on top, moving its SU record against the Magic to 6-4 in their last 10 head-to-head meetings. The Hornets also hold the advantage ATS with a record of 6-4.
Predictions: SU Winner – Cha, ATS Winner – Cha, O/U – Under
Notes
Orlando is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Orlando’s last 5 games at home.
Orlando is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games at home.
Orlando is 16-8 SU in its last 24 games when playing Charlotte.
Orlando is 5-10 ATS in its last 15 games when playing Charlotte.
Orlando is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Charlotte.
Orlando is 1-8 ATS in its last 9 games when playing at home against Charlotte.
Orlando ranks 17th in points per game with 100.1, while Charlotte ranks eighth in points allowed with an average of 98.0 given up.
On average, Orlando scores 101.2 points per home game (ranked 18th), while Charlotte gives up 100.3 points per away game (ranked 10th).
In its last game, Orlando won by a 23-point margin. Charlotte is 5-1 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Orlando has a 3-1 record in blowouts.
When allowing fewer than 100 points, the Hornets are 11-4 on the season. When the Magic score fewer than 100, they are a losing 3-6.
When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Hornets are just 3-5 this season. Orlando is a solid 10-5 when registering triple digits.
The Hornets have the fifth-best offensive rating in the NBA (105.1). The Magic are also in the top half of the league based on their defensive rating of 99.7 (ranked eighth).
Charlotte has an average field goal percentage of 44.5%. Orlando is an underachieving 2-7 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
On average, Orlando attempts 22.0 three pointers and Charlotte attempts 28.0 per game. In games where the teams have 25 or more three point attempts, the Magic are even at 5-5 while the Hornets have a winning 12-6 record.
The Charlotte Hornets top the league in assist to turnover ratio this season with an A/TO of 1.84. The Orlando Magic have an A/TO of 1.53 (ranked 13th).
The Magic rank seventh in rebounds per game with 45.4, while the Hornets rank 13th with 44.2 per game.
The Charlotte Hornets rank 30th in offensive rebounding, while the Orlando Magic rank ninth in defensive rebounding.
Charlotte has forced an average turnover rate of 14.0% this season. In games where their turnover rate is 14.0% or higher, Orlando is an even 5-5.
