Minnesota Timberwolves at Orlando Magic Pick

The Minnesota Timberwolves (25-28) and the Orlando Magic (22-32) will face off in a cross-conference collision at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida on Thursday, February 7th, 2019. The tip is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET and will be broadcasted on FSN. This has been a series marked by home court advantage as the hosts have won the last four meetings. Most recently, Minnesota curated hosting duties in January and defeated the Magic 120-103 to produce an easy cover as a 4.5-point favorite.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Orlando Magic Overview

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves enter on a two-game losing streak. The Wolves last took the court two days ago against the Memphis Grizzlies and came up short losing by a bucket despite being favored by 3.5 points. The final tally was Memphis winning 108-106.

Orlando Magic

The Magic enter off a 132-122 loss suffered on the road at the Oklahoma City Thunder. In Tuesday’s match, Orlando closed as an 8.5-point underdog and failed to cover. The loss marked the end of a two-game winning streak and two consecutive covers for Orlando.

Reasons To Back Minnesota

The Timberwolves own a litany of advantages compared to the Magic. The Timberwolves commit fewer turnovers, they are in the positive in overall margin (.1) compared to Orlando who sits at -3.3, and their starting ensemble gives them an 8.5-point edge in scoring as Minnesota’s starting five produce 77.8 points per game to Orlando’s 69.3.

Reasons To Avoid Orlando

Situationally, the Magic enter into a spot where they are bound to be overpriced by home court being instrumental in this series combined with Minnesota’s bitter 8-18 SU road record. Both of these narratives inflate the stock of the Magic here and will subject Orlando to an overlay. When you add this with the fact that Minnesota has been in poor form as a whole as of late, the propensity for the Magic to be overvalued is heightened. Had this game been on a neutral court and had Minnesota been more profitable against the spread, it is the T-Wolves that could have easily been favored here.