The Orlando Magic will cap off their 4-game West coast road trip tonight in Salt Lake City, as they take on the slumping Utah Jazz. Both teams played last night, so the coaches will have to dig deep into their bench units to find the adequate personnel for tonight’s game. Unlike the Jazz who lost once again, the Magic were able to get a valuable win over the Magic thanks to big time performances from Wagner and Black. Orlando is already struggling with depth; the injury situation just hasn’t been kind to them to start the year. However, from a betting perspective the Magic have been somewhat reliable on the road, covering in 4 of 6 games.
Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic have all been sidelined for the majority of Jazz games so far and the 1-10 SU record to start the year reflects that. One positive side-effect from all the injuries has been the stellar play of two young and upcoming stars in Ace Bailey and Darryn Peterson. The rookie Peterson has connected three consecutive games of 20+ points, on solid efficiency both from the field and three-point land. However, can you really count on two youngsters to get you a win in a back-to-back scenario against an experienced Orlando Magic team? Utah’s transition defense is a worry, even vs a slow Orlando team. They allow 16.4 ppg from the fastbreak, that’s the 5th highest number in the league.
Ending the road trip on a good note would do wonders for the confidence of these Magic players. In the end the experience of Wagner, Black and Bane, combined with the inside presence of Wendell Carter Jr. should swing this game in their favor. I’ll take the road squad to cover.
Magic vs Jazz prediction: Magic -2.5 (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable to 3 (-110).
