Eastern Conference All-Star starting guard Kemba Walker leads his Charlotte Hornets into battle against fellow All-Star Nikola Vucevic and the Orlando Magic in a game that carries serious playoff implications. The Magic have been red-hot lately, winning six of their past seven games. Meanwhile, Charlotte has been reeling, winning one of their past four. They've been especially poor on the road lately, with a 4-11 record in their past 15 road games. However, Charlotte seems to have Orlando's number. They've beaten the Magic in 13 straight games, and have won each of this season's contests by an average of 29 points. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET from the Amway Center. Sportsbooks list the Magic as 3-point home favorites, while the Over-Under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 212.5 in the latest Magic vs. Hornets odds. Before you make any Hornets vs. Magic picks of your own, check out the NBA predictions from SportsLine's proven model.
This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, is crushing its NBA picks this season. It entered Week 18 of the 2018-19 NBA season with a sterling 212-158 record on all top-rated picks, returning more than $4,000 to anybody following them. And it has been particularly red-hot on its A-rated NBA picks against the spread, entering Week 18 on a blistering 41-26 run. Anybody following it is way up.
Now it has locked in on the Hornets vs. Magic spread. We can tell you it's leaning over, and it also has locked in a confident against-the-spread pick that hits in well over 50 percent of simulations. You can only see that selection at SportsLine.
The model is well aware of how poorly Charlotte has traveled this season. Among teams currently in the playoffs, the Hornets' 8-20 road record is easily the worst. They've won just four of their past 16 road contests, so going into the Amway Center and securing a win against a red-hot Magic squad is no easy task.
Charlotte has struggled on the glass and the defensive end of the floor lately, posting a putrid 118.4 defensive rating and 47.8% rebounding rate in the month of February. Both of those numbers have to have Nikola Vucevic excited. Orlando's All-Star big man has been a double-double machine and is averaging 21 points and 12 boards over his past ten games. If Charlotte displays the same inconsistency on the glass tonight, Vucevic will surely make them pay.
Just because Orlando has been locking down on defense lately, doesn't mean it will cover the spread against the Hornets, though.
The model is also well aware that Charlotte has owned this matchup as of late. They have blown the Magic out in both of their previous games this season, and actually have beaten Orlando in 13 straight games entering tonight's contest. This should come as no surprise, given Orlando's continual struggles against the point guard position, but All-Star starter Kemba Walker has given the Magic all kinds of problems over the past few years.
In matchups against Orlando that have remained competitive over the past three seasons, Walker is averaging over 26 points. This season, his per-36 numbers against Orlando are ridiculous -- he has averaged 34 points and over eight assists per-36 minutes, on 56% shooting from the floor and 47 percent shooting from 3-point range. The Magic have no answer for Walker, who SportsLine's model has projected for just over 24 points tonight. The Hornets are 15-11 when Walker scores at least 24 points this season, as opposed to 12-18 in all other games.
So who wins Hornets vs. Magic? And which side of the spread hits in well over 50 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Hornets vs. Magic spread you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed its NBA picks, and find out.
