Orlando Magic, after a very poor start to the season, winning only 2 out of 8 games played, have recently shown excellent form and confidently defeated strong teams like the San Antonio Spurs (112-97) and the Philadelphia 76ers (111-109) at home. For 5 consecutive games, the Orlando team has scored more than 105 points, and it is clear that at this stage, all the team's players understand their roles well and contribute to the team's results.
Meanwhile, the situation for the Washington Wizards is somewhat worse. In 10 games, the capital's basketball players have celebrated victories only 3 times, and the team's roster is certainly not one of the strongest in the conference, but it can occasionally surprise. The Wizards will enter this match after an away victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves, breaking a 3-game losing streak with a 21-point margin.
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Bradley Beal
This season, with J. Wall missing due to injury, Bradley Beal is undoubtedly the star and leader of this team, although the start of the season did not go as expected for him. Various speculations could be seen – from a lack of motivation to play in such a weak team to a desire to be traded, but it seems that the capital team's star has awakened and started playing at his best. 44 points against the Boston Celtics and the same amount scored against the Minnesota team in the last match.
If Bradley Beal can continue to maintain similar athletic form, the team can certainly expect better results and even contend for the 7-8 positions in the standings, especially since the Magic team does not have a standout leader, so in crucial moments of the match, with Beal feeling his shot, it is very likely that the Wizards would be the team winning the match in the end.
Will the Magic team maintain the offense demonstrated in the last 5 games?
As we mentioned earlier, the Magic team does not have a standout player who can decide the game, which sooner or later becomes a problem in achieving the highest results. The team's roster is at best average, so it is difficult to expect the team to maintain similar offensive tempos for most of the season. Yes, the Magic is one of the best defensive teams in the league, but in modern NBA, the most important thing is to be able to maintain a high game tempo and attack with a stable percentage, which the Magic has been doing recently, but struggled at the start of the season.
Unlike the Magic, the Wizards team this season does not know what defense is, and the whole game is based on “run and shoot.” A large part of the success of one team or the other will be determined by which team can impose its game rhythm and how well the Magic team will manage to stop the finally playing Wizards superstar Bradley Beal.
Prediction
Magic celebrated victories in the last two games, scoring more than 110 points, but there is a big question mark whether they will be able to do it in the third game in a row. Overall, the Magic team this season attacks with a rather poor percentage from the field, and unlike the Wizards, the Magic team does not have a player like Bradley Beal who can single-handedly decide the outcome of the game.
The Celtics, who are one of the best defensive teams in the league, had no antidote for Bradley Beal, who both attacked himself and created opportunities for his teammates, significantly contributing to the 133 points scored in total. Of course, the Celtics have one of the strongest teams in the league, so it is not surprising that they managed to win the match against the Wizards, but if the Magic let the game slip at the start, it could be difficult to come back.
Both teams are worthy of each other and will likely be direct competitors for a spot in the final Eastern Conference top 8, but today it seems that the Wizards have finally found their game and should be able to avoid losing by more than 7 points.
Wizards +7.5 1.9 odds, betsafe
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