One team’s losing streak is about to end this coming Wednesday as the Phoenix Suns (31-30) and the Orlando Magic (19-42) duke it out down in Florida. Will Phoenix prevent sliding further down in the Western Conference standings with a win over Orlando, or will the Magic sweep their regular season series against the Suns?
The Blazers and the Clippers are also set to play a game this coming Wednesday. Click here for an an in-depth preview of that game.
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Phoenix Suns vs. Orlando Magic Preview
Where: Amway Center, Orlando
When: Wednesday, March 5, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Phoenix Suns (-4.5) vs. Orlando Magic (+4.5); total 201.0 – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Phoenix Suns
The Suns had a rough start to their four-game road trip, as they took a 115-98 loss at the hands of Goran Dragic and the rest of the Miami Heat on Monday. They’ll now move on to Orlando where they’ll seek to win a rematch against the Magic which beat them on November 30, 93-90.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Based on their back-to-back losses to the San Antonio Spurs (101-74) and the Heat, the Suns’ top problem is a faulty defense that gave up an average of 108 PPG on an unacceptable 48.3 percent shooting from the field.
The Suns gave San Antonio and Miami too many easy looks near the rim, as evidenced by the 102 total points inside the paint by the Spurs and Heat. This means Alex Len and Brandan Wright will have to play big defensively against Orlando, which is averaging 44.6 points in the paint per game—fifth best in the NBA. Len and Wright are averaging 1.6 and 1.0 BPG, respectively.
Brandon Knight is another player the Suns are looking for to step up against Orlando. Back when he was playing for Milwaukee earlier this season, Knight has averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 7.0 assists in two games against the Magic.
The Suns have covered the spread in two of their last three games against Orlando.
The Magic are having a hard time getting their 20th win of the season. Hopefully for the team, they can get that on Wednesday against Phoenix, which has won just once in its last six trips to Amway Center. The Magic are on a three-game losing skid, which includes their 98-83 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
For the Magic to win over Phoenix, though, they’re going to need to find and exploit the holes on the Suns’ defense. As mentioned earlier, the Suns possess a weak interior defense, something that the likes of Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris, and Victor Oladipo can take advantage.
Vucevic, who scored 18 points and hauled down eight rebounds in the first meeting with Phoenix, is averaging a team-best 19.8 PPG. Harris and Oladipo, meanwhile, are averaging 16.9 and 16.8 PPG, respectively.
A thin scoring support behind those three, however, might slow down the Magic against Phoenix, which owns the league’s highest scoring bench that averages 42.3 PPG. Orlando is getting just 27.7 PPG from its relievers.
That being said, the Magic’s bench has looked better of late, thanks to Willie Green, who put up an average of 12.0 PPG over Orlando’s last three games.
The Magic are 5-1 ATS in their last six home games against Phoenix.
