Impressive Play
San Antonio,Tx – The Orlando Magic dominated their last opponent to extend their longest home winning streak in nearly three years. Their play away from home has been just as impressive.
The Magic look to improve the NBA’s best road record as they meet the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night in a matchup between division leaders that have been two of the league’s hottest teams lately.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Spurs -3 point spread favorites for Tuesday’s game against the Magic. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 54% of more than 157 bets for this game have been placed on the Spurs -3.
Orlando (29-8) has won 16 of its 19 home games, including 11 in a row for its longest home winning streak since taking 12 straight from March 10-April 15, 2006.
The Southeast Division-leading Magic extended their current run Friday night with a 121-87 rout of division rival Atlanta. Hedo Turkoglu made all five of his 3-point attempts and led six players in double figures with 21 points as the Magic pulled into a tie for the most wins in the league.
"I don’t think anybody is too concerned with our record, we’re just trying to play healthy basketball," said point guard Jameer Nelson, averaging 16.2 points and shooting 50.9 percent from the field – both career highs.
"We have a good team, but we know we have to get better. We aren’t the best team we could be. We can still get better."
That may be the case, but no team has been better on the road than the Magic, who are 13-5 away from home. They’re scoring more (101.3 points per game) and shooting better (45.8 percent) on the road than they are at home (100.6 and 45.6).
The Magic are 7-2 in road games and 14-4 overall against the Western Conference. However, they’ve lost 14 of their last 16 in San Antonio, including 128-110 on Nov. 21, 2007.
They’ll likely have their hands full Sunday with the Southwest Division-leading Spurs (24-11), who have rebounded from a slow start with 22 wins in their last 28 games. San Antonio had five players with at least 11 points as it cruised to a 106-84 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, its ninth victory in 10 games.
After getting held to 16 points in the first quarter, the Spurs outscored the Clippers 90-62 the rest of the way.
"We started hitting shots," reserve guard Roger Mason said. "But the thing we wanted to continue to do was play defense, and I think our defense got better as the game went on. … For us it’s about playing Spurs defense, sharing the ball and playing the right way."
The slow start to the season was primarily due to ankle injuries that kept Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker out of 12 and nine games, respectively. San Antonio, though, can’t claim injuries as an excuse for its 90-78 loss in Orlando on Dec. 18.
All three of the Spurs’ top players were healthy for that game, but Tim Duncan was 7-for-17, Parker was 3-for-17 and Ginobili was 4-for-12 as the Magic held the Spurs to a season-low 37.5 percent shooting.
Nelson led Orlando with 24 points and seven assists in that game. He’s averaging 21.2 points and 5.7 assists while shooting 54.1 percent from the field in six career starts against the Spurs, not including a loss last spring in which he played only seven minutes before leaving with a jaw injury.
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Posted: 1/11/09 12:55AM ET