NBA 2021/22 on Wednesday, 23.03.2022
Going into a game with the right motivation, (and sometimes a healthy dose of anger in your belly) can be more than half the battle on the road to victory.
This sports wisdom could be applied tonight in the game between the Orlando Magic and the Golden State Warriors. The visitors are not as dominant as they were at the beginning of the season, but in my Magic Warriors tip, I still think they can win the game!
It’s not long now! On 11 April the regular season officially ends and for all those who still want to be part of the playoffs, it means to give everything in the next few weeks.
Conversely, the teams that are in transition and just want to get the season over with as quickly as possible are an easy target. As a result, the Magic, who are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, are the epitome of an “ideal victim”.
After all, Orlando (19) has celebrated the fewest NBA victories in the league after the Rockets (17) and has lost three of its last four games. The Floridians did manage to win one, but that was only against the Thunder, who are also in a new start phase.
For their part, the Warriors have an excellent record of (47-24) and currently occupy a promising 3rd place. The Suns will not be able to win the conference, but the yellow and blue could still move up at least one place.
However, the Californians have lost their last two games, so a win over the Magic is now more urgent than ever.
If Golden State is already losing to the Spurs, then a win against Orlando is all the more important if they don’t want to fall behind in the table.
I am optimistic about a win for the visitors not only because of the need for a win over the last-place team in the table, but also because yesterday’s defeat by the Spurs, who are quite defensible, may have spurred the Warriors on.
The Spurs are somewhere between the level of the Warriors and the Magic in terms of quality! But unlike the latter, the Texans are currently fighting for a place in the play-in tournament, which is why the motivation against Golden State was great.
But regardless of that: The Warriors “should” have won the game! However, San Antonio benefited from two highly controversial foul calls that helped them to a completely unexpected 110-108 win in the closing seconds of the game.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was vocal in his criticism of the referees after his upset team’s defeat. Accordingly, I expect Golden State to come out against the listless Magic with a healthy breeze of anger in their belly.
The visitors can also be expected to win because one of their clearest victories of the season came against the Magic. At the beginning of December, Golden State swept the underdogs 126-95 in their own arena.
Curry and Wiggins contributed 31 and 28 respectively to the Yellow and Blue’s success that night and will likely be able to hold their own tonight. In addition, the home side have been in a huge decline offensively in recent weeks.
According to the official NBA statistics, only the Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers have averaged fewer points than the Magic (107.0) over their last ten games.
Conclusion: The Warriors are far superior to the Magic in terms of play, after all, they won a head-to-head duel in December with a difference of over 30 points. But there are other reasons that speak for a success of the favourites.
For one thing, the last-place team in the Eastern Conference has nothing at stake, and for another, the Warriors had to give up an almost certain victory only yesterday due to some controversial refereeing decisions.
However, this can only be a good thing for my Magic Warriors tip. The raging coach Steve Kerr will have impressed upon his men the urgency of a win over the Floridians.
My tip: The Warriors win with a handicap of -4.5.
