The Philadelphia 76ers head to Florida on Friday night as they enter their matchup with the Orlando Magic as 5.5-point favorites (-112 with Bet Rivers). The game gets underway at 7:00 p.m. ET and will take place at the Kia Center, Orlando.
Two Eastern Conference teams will go head-to-head tonight, with the home team sitting in eighth with a record of 22-19. The visitors currently enter the game in third-place in the conference standings with a 26-13 record. The total for the game is set at O/U 221.5.
Orlando are 13-5 at home, whilst the 76ers have the best road record in the conference at 10-7. Both teams are dealing with injuries. The Magic have been struggling without forward Franz Wagner in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the biggest casualty for the 76ers is guard De’Anthony Melton. Our best bet for today’s game will be available below!
Last Time Out
The 76ers are on a three-game winning streak and will be hoping to extend that to four when they visit Orlando to take on the Magic tonight. Philadelphia beat Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets (28-14) on Tuesday night, with Joel Embiid going off after scoring 41 points. Nick Nurse’s team will also have an extra day’s rest advantage over their opponents.
It hasn’t been the best start to 2024 for Orlando as they have a record of 3-7 since the turn of the year. They suffered their fourth loss in five games last time out, losing 106-104 on the road to the Atlanta Hawks. The Magic will be hoping that star player Paolo Banchero can help put an end to their poor run here. He put up 26 points, four rebounds and four assists against the Hawks on Wednesday.
Injuries
Melton, forward Robert Covington and center Mo Bamba have all been ruled out of the matchup for the 76ers. Jaden Springer is doubtful due to an ankle injury. Melton will be the biggest absentee for the away team.
The Magic’s drop in form of late has coincided with the injury to forward Wagner. The former first-round pick has played in just two games in 2024, missing the last seven consecutive matchups. Garry Harris is also out due to a calf injury.
Head-to-Head
The two teams have met just once so far this season and the 76ers easily defeated the Magic 112-92 in Orlando towards the end of December. Philly didn’t even have Embiid on the court, whilst Wagner put up 24 points for the Magic, despite the loss. The visitors have won their last four out of five clashes with the hosts, with three of those victories coming on the road too.
Against the Spread Stats
Philly are the second-best team in the NBA ATS this season (26-13-0), covering 66.7% of the time. They are 10-7 ATS as the road team and 7-3 as the road favorite. The 76ers are 4-2 with a rest advantage and cover 68% of the time after a win (second-best in the league).
However, Orlando has been good at covering ATS as well, and they have the third-best record in the league (27-14-0). They cover 70.6% of the time as the home team and 75% of the time as home underdogs. Nevertheless, this drops to 61.1% after a loss, whilst they are at 7-5 with a rest disadvantage.
Key Players
Without Wagner, Orlando will be leaning on 2022 first overall pick Banchero. He is averaging 22.9 points per game this season (ranked 28th across the league). The Magic will also be hoping guard Jalen Suggs (13 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists) can contribute. Suggs also averages 1.3 steals per game which ranks inside the top-20 across the NBA.
Last season’s MVP in Embiid will be tough to contain for the Magic and the Cameroonian is on fire at the moment. He leads the league in PPG (35.1) and he put up 41 points against the Nuggets on Tuesday, also recording seven rebounds and 10 assists. Embiid has scored at least 30 points across his last 18 successive games. Not only will Embiid be a huge threat, but guard Tyrese Maxey is having a strong season, averaging 26.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists.
Best Bet
Everything is pointing towards a fairly comfortable win for the 76ers. Embiid is playing at an MVP-level standard once again this season, and is coming off a huge game against the Nuggets. Bet Rivers currently has Embiid priced at +104 to score over 34.5 points in tonight’s game.
Philly comfortably beat the Magic even without Embiid earlier on this season, and Orlando will be dealing with Wagner on the sidelines this time around as well. 5.5 points seems a little too generous for the 76ers, especially with an extra day’s rest advantage. Therefore, we are going for them to cover the spread in tonight’s clash.
Philadelphia 76ers -5.5 (-112 with Bet Rivers)