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The Orlando Magic shocked those of us here at Gambling911.com the other night coming off a win in LA against the lowly Clippers then beating the red hot Portland Trailblazers by one point the next night. Orlando Magic vs. Phoenix Suns betting odds opened at -2 but by Friday afternoon they were anywhere from a +1 underdog to a -1 ½ favorite.
You can middle this game. Especially with Orlando winning by one point the other night if they were to do it again, you would win your bet at BetUS.com which had the Magic as a +1 underdog. You can bet the other side (Phoenix Suns) at Bookmaker.com which had Phoenix at -1 ½ still.
Truth be told, we like Phoenix's chances as a team that has gone 8-2 in this series over the last 10. In fact, they've won the last 4 games and here we have the Orlando Magic entering their third West Coast game of this stretch. They play Utah Saturday night.
According to Stats.com, The Suns (13-10) have reached 10 losses faster than in any season since 2003-04 -- the last time they missed the playoffs -- and part of the problem has been declining production from a pair of former league MVPs.
Point guard Steve Nash, 34, is averaging 15.0 points and 8.4 points -- both his lowest in five seasons -- while 36-year-old Shaquille O'Neal's 15.4 points per game are nearly 10 below his career average.
Those numbers may have guided Kerr on Wednesday, when he traded veteran role players Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, along with reserve point guard Sean Singletary, to Charlotte in exchange for Richardson, forward Jared Dudley and a draft pick.
"We felt like we needed to shake things up a little bit," Kerr said. "We wanted to add a great scorer in the backcourt to give us better balance to take some of the pressure off of Steve."
Orlando has won four straight and 13 of 15.
Rashard Lewis scored 27 points, shooting 6 of 9 from 3-point range in Tuesday's 109-108 victory over the Trail Blazers, but it was Hedo Turkoglu's banked-in 3 in the final second that gave Orlando the dramatic victory. The play had been designed to go to either Lewis or Jameer Nelson.
Gambling911.com says go with Phoenix at +1 but remember you have that middling opportunity available as well.
