Magic Try to Keep Rolling vs. Raptors
All-Star Chris Bosh and rookie teammate Andrea Bargnani both had career games against the Orlando Magic this season.
That could bode well for a Toronto Raptors team looking to bounce back from their worst offensive game of the season in a matchup with the Magic on Wednesday.
The Raptors (36-31) lost to New York 92-74 on Sunday, getting outscored 35-13 in the decisive third quarter.
Oddsmakers have made Toronto -5.5 point spread favorites (NBA Odds) for todays game, the over/under has been set at 195 total points (View NBA Sports Books). Our public betting information shows that 84% of bets for this game have been placed on Toronto -5.5 (View NBA Bet Percentages).
They finished with season lows in points, field-goal shooting (34.2 percent) and 3-point shooting (2-of-21), after averaging 105.8 points over their previous six games while hitting 51.0 percent from the field.
"We haven’t had too many games where we just got it handed to us like it did today," Bosh said. "We just can’t get too caught up in this, because if we do I think it will carry over to other games and we don’t want to do that."
Bosh led Toronto with 21 points, but failed to record an assist for the second straight game. The Raptors are 2-7 when that happens.
Bargnani, the first overall pick in last year’s draft, is averaging 16.6 points in his last five games despite being held to seven on Sunday while committing five of the team’s 19 turnovers.
The Raptors are in first place in the Atlantic Division, but have lost their last two games following a four-game winning streak. They will try to get back on track against the Magic (31-37), who already have brought out the best in Toronto’s two young stars.
Bosh scored a career-high 41 points, including a 15-of-17 effort at the free-throw line, in the Raptors’ 113-103 win in Orlando on Feb. 7. Bargnani had a career-best 23 points in Toronto’s 91-84 victory over the Magic on Dec. 13.
Orlando All-Star Dwight Howard had a career-high 32 points on 13-of-14 shooting against Toronto in February after being held to 17 points in the first meeting.
The Raptors have won the last three meetings overall with the Magic and five in a row at home.
As Bosh and Bargnani try to lead the Raptors to the first division title in their 12-year history, Orlando is battling for one of the Eastern Conference’s final two playoff berths.
While Toronto had one of its worst games of the season on Sunday, the Magic played one of their most inspiring.
Orlando ended Miami’s nine-game winning streak with a 97-83 road victory. It was just the fourth win in 15 games for the Magic, who also ended the Heat’s home win streak at 14 games.
"This was a great win," said Hedo Turkoglu, who scored a team-high 20 points. "Hopefully it will give us confidence so that we can learn from it and move ahead."
The Magic now look to win consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 31 and Feb. 2.
They snapped a five-game road losing streak Sunday and notched just their fourth win in their last 21 games away from home. Orlando has not won consecutive road games since winning a season-high four in a row Nov. 24-Dec. 1.
The Raptors, meanwhile, have won 12 of their last 15 games at Air Canada Centre.
By: Marc Young – theSpread.com – Email Us
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