The last six meetings between the Lakers and Magic have finished ’under.’
There’s an interesting early NBA betting trend with the Western Conference dominating at home as we head into Friday.
The Western Conference as a whole is 70-45-1 against the spread (60.9 percent) at home, pending Thursday’s results. Houston leads the way at 6-0 ATS, followed by Dallas, Utah and the Clippers (all 6-2 ATS). New Orleans is the only bad home team (1-7 ATS).
There are only three Western teams at home on Friday night (San Antonio, Golden State and the Clippers). There is more on the Clips below as we preview the big games.
Los Angeles Lakers at Orlando Magic – 8:00 p.m. (ET) on ESPN
There will be heavy pre-game talk about the respective centers, Orlando's Dwight Howard and Los Angeles’ Andrew Bynum. Howard isn’t backing off his trade request and the Lakers are on his short list in addition to the Nets and Mavericks.
Orlando (10-4 straight up, 8-6 ATS) coach Stan Van Gundy has done a great job given the distractions. The team trails Atlanta by just a half-game in the Southeast Division standings and is the same margin ahead of the much-ballyhooed Miami Heat.
The Magic did lose their last contest on Wednesday, 85-83 (OT) at home to San Antonio. They’re scoring just 89.5 PPG on the current homestand (1-1 SU, 0-2 ATS) with the ‘under’ 2-0. The ‘under’ is 6-1 at home overall. They scored 107.5 PPG on their recent road trip, going 4-0 SU and ATS with the ‘over’ 4-0.
The Lakers (10-5 SU, 7-8 ATS) will be playing the second half of a back-to-back on Friday. They have a huge Thursday night tilt at Miami with the result pending. The road hasn’t been kind to the Lakers at 1-4 SU and ATS, compared to 9-1 SU (6-4 ATS) at home.
Los Angeles isn’t listing any significant injuries, but Orlando forward Hedo Turkoglu (back) missed last game and is questionable.
The ‘under’ is 6-0 in the last six meetings between the teams, with no one reaching 100 points.
Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Clippers – 10:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN
Minnesota (6-8 SU, 9-5 ATS) is shooting for its first 3-game winning streak since February 2010 after home wins over Sacramento (99-86) and Detroit (93-85). Those teams are a horrid 2-14 SU combined on the road, with the Timberwolves 3-1 SU and ATS since point guard Ricky Rubio became a starter.
Forward Michael Beasley (12.9 PPG) has missed the last seven games with a foot injury and is doubtful. This is the NBA’s biggest ‘under’ team at 11-2-1 with the 15th-ranked scoring offense (94.6 PPG) and 11th-ranked defense (92.5 PPG).
The Clippers (8-4 SU, 7-5 ATS) got a much-needed day of rest on Thursday after three games in three nights. The most recent was a gutty 91-89 home win over Dallas despite playing without starting point guard Chris Paul. Reserve Mo Williams did return after missing three games and scored 26 points.
Paul (hamstring) is still listed as doubtful for Friday. Los Angeles has won its last seven at home (6-1 ATS), but it will be interesting to see if 35-year-old Chauncey Billups can stay with the exciting Rubio defensively.
The Clippers covered all four games against Minnesota last year, winning three.
Other injury news in Friday quick hits
Chicago (13-3 SU, 10-6 ATS) has point guard Derrick Rose questionable at Cleveland with a toe injury. He’s not practicing on Thursday after missing the last two games at Memphis (102-86 loss) and home to Phoenix (118-97 win). C.J. Watson filled in last game as the starter and scored 23 points, but the reigning league-MVP is still badly missed.
The Cavaliers (6-7 SU, 8-5 ATS) have only played four home games this year (2-2 SU and ATS). They had a disappointing Tuesday home loss (105-95) to Golden State as 2-point favorites after a decent 7-game road trip (3-4 SU, 4-3 ATS). Kyrie Irving (17.7 PPG, 5.2 APG) is the Rookie of the Year favorite.
Boston (5-8 SU, 6-7 ATS) point Rajon Rondo hurt his wrist in a 96-73 home win over Toronto on Wednesday. That snapped a 5-game losing streak, both SU and ATS, but the Celtics can ill-afford to lose the one young gun in their starting lineup.
Rondo is listed as questionable Friday hosting Phoenix (5-9 SU, 6-8 ATS), as is backup Keyon Dooling (knee). The Suns got 26 points from Steve Nash at the Knicks (91-88 win) on Wednesday. That was gratifying against former coach Mike D’Antoni and also broke a 5-game losing streak, SU and ATS.