NBA - Orlando Magic v New Orleans

9 February 2010

Preview By Tipster Mafia

This is one of my favourite bets, i took it many times in this season, and only a few times i missed it, and i think Howard will be able to show another great performance tonight and this pick should again be good.. The Magic have finally gained their momentum, they are playing really good, and they have won 8 out of their last 10 games, first a couple of games vs some mid level teams, but then they got 4 amazing consecutive wins against a couple of best teams in the NBA, first they defetead the Bobcats on the road, then they defeated the Hawks at home, and finally they managed to beat the Celtics, two times in a row.. Howard was playing only 30 minutes per game, in some games where they had big lead from the beggining and in some he had problem with personal fouls, and it all resulted in him not playing that much and that was the reason for missed picks.. Now the Magic are playing again at home vs very tricky Hornets, but the Hornets are now playing without their best player Chris Paul, they have struggled in last couple of games, and now i don't see that changing.. The Magic are in a great form now, they will try to continue their winning streak, so they will come into this game fully concentrated and motivated to get a win here, and i don't see how the Hornets will be able to stop them.. The Magic will use their strong defense and will try to limit the Hornets on a very low number, and in the offense they can always find a way to score, so in the end the Magic should take the win here, but it won't be that easy for them.. So Howard and the Magic will be looking to give another great performance tonight, if they want this win and they surely do.. As i said before Howard is most likely the strongest player in the NBA, and he is almost impossible to guard or stop, so he is scoring many easy points, he is also spending much time at the free throw line, and he has pretty good free throw percentage.. He is also one of the leagues leading rebounder, he has an average of more than 13 rebounds per game, so he should get at least that number in this game again and also will use that to score many second chance points.. So i expect a strong performance from the Magic tonight, Howard will be well rested and motivated tonight, he will have a great battle with Emeka Okafor, he will dominate under the baskets and will be able to score many easy points, he is expected to play at least more than 35 minutes, he should be ready to make another amazing performance in what could be a little tougher game for the Magic, and i think this will be enough for him to go over this line.. The pick is Dwight Howard over 30.5 (points+rebounds), a little higher stakes, good luck..