NBA 2022/23, on Saturday, 17.12.2022
The German bettors all seem to agree that the Boston Celtics will not only beat the Orlando Magic, but even get them basketball-wise. But I wouldn’t be too sure about that.
Because my Celtics Magic tip quickly makes it clear that if the Floridians ever possessed a chance to beat the C’s, it’s probably tonight. The visitors’ fans, by no means spoiled for success, could actually be celebrating their fifth straight win of the season…
Good betting opportunities present themselves to the basketball fan several times a week. All it takes is a little patience, knowledge and the right instinct. Because sometimes you have to correctly estimate the exact handicap advantage of a bet.
The weak Rockets defeated the Bucks and Suns just a few days ago. Now it could be the Magic’s turn to provide a little basketball surprise – even if the playoffs will probably remain just a dream in the years to come…
Last week already offered some great opportunities to benefit from the sudden run of success of the Floridians, who are often considered underdogs. For the record, Orlando has only celebrated 9 wins on the season, but four of those have come in the last four matchdays!
The unexpected resurgence of the NBA’s perennial whipping boy almost certainly has something to do with the fact that over the course of the week before last, Markelle Fultz made his season debut, while Cole Anthony finally returned after more than a month out of action.
Now that the Floridians have real guards again, it is much easier for them to defend the half court. Especially Fultz collected a lot of deflections and steals in the last weeks.
Success on the floor was not long in coming! Four games of the five-game home series have just been won – even the narrow 102-109 defeat at the beginning against the strong Bucks deserves to be appreciated.
Now Orlando must try to carry the good mood from the Amway Center into the TD Garden. But after yesterday’s 135-124 loss to the powerful Hawks and the expected turnovers in the opponent, I remain confident in that regard.
The Celtics are undoubtedly the best team in the NBA. With a record of 22-7, no one in the league can keep up. Nevertheless, head coach Joe Mazzulla will have to rotate a bit in order to spare his regular players.
Only in their last appearance did the C’s have to go into overtime against the Lakers. While the extra effort was crowned with success, superstar Jayson Tatum and and Jaylen Brown were each on the floor for over 40 minutes…
The Celtics’ bench players combined to score just 19 of their team’s 122 points against the Lakers a few days ago. Some of those reserves should be called into action tonight, which will make the task visibly easier for the Magic.
And even if the Celtics serve up their expensive silverware, that doesn’t mean the Floridians would be as chanceless as sports bettors currently assume.
It was only on 23 October that the two franchises met in a duel that the Boston team, fielding its best line-up, could only win 126-120 – and Orlando was nowhere near as good then as it is now.
Sports bettors may have recreated the game on Playstation and concluded that Boston are the clear favourites with odds of 1.10 to win.
The only difference is that on the console you can put together your own formation, whereas in reality this decision is up to the respective head coach.
Joking aside: Personally, I think that there is a lot of “value” hidden in the Magic’s odds – which even reach a peak of 7.50 at Bet365.
The only point that clearly speaks against a surprise is, of course, the direct comparison – this favours the C’s. The Floridians have not been able to win any of their games.
The Floridians could not win any of the last six guest games in the TD Garden. However, they managed to force the C’s into overtime on at least two occasions…
Conclusion: Just about every bookmaker is offering at least a ver-6 multiple on the Magic to win their fifth straight game this season.
While I won’t go that far, as wins by Floridians over the C’s enjoy true rarity status, they should definitely be able to provide an intense fight like they did in October to the NBA’s high-flyer.
The home side may be resting a superstar or two after their overtime win over the Californians, which should play into the Floridians’ chances of a genuine surprise….
My Celtics Magic tip: The visitors win with a handicap of +13.5.
