Basketball betting on Thursday has a great matchup as two of the best teams in the NBA get together in Atlanta as the Hawks host the Orlando Magic. This prime time NBA betting matchup can be seen on TNT television. Basketball betting has this as the first game of a three-game road trip for the Magic. It is also a back-to-back NBA betting situation for the Magic as they played last night at home vs. Miami. The Hawks have not played since Saturday so they will have the rest advantage in this basketball betting matchup. The Hawks do play at Philadelphia tomorrow in NBA betting.
This is the first of four games between the two teams this season. Orlando took last season’s series 3-1, winning the final three games, including both basketball betting matchups in Atlanta. The Hawks have dropped three straight at home to the Magic overall. Orlando leads the all-time series 41-36, but Atlanta holds a 24-14 advantage in home games. The Hawks at 11-3 are off to their best start since a 12-2 opening to the 1997-98 campaign. They are tied for the second-best start in Atlanta history.
Atlanta is doing a lot of things right this basketball betting season. Josh Smith leads the NBA in total blocks while Jamal Crawford is the leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year already. He is second on the team in scoring with 16.7 points per NBA basketball betting game. He is second only to Jason Terry in the league in scoring for players coming off the bench. Atlanta is the league’s best team inside as they are scoring 51.4 points per game in the paint. Atlanta is 5th in the league in scoring (105.5 ppg), they are 10th in FG% (.469) and 8th in FT% while committing only 12.5 turnovers per basketball betting game.
The Magic and Hawks have split their last ten meetings both straight up and against the basketball betting odds. The Magic have won three of the last five games in Atlanta. Three of the last five in Atlanta have gone under the basketball betting total.
Orlando and Atlanta could be going at it all season in basketball betting odds in the Southeast Division. The Hawks look like a serious threat this basketball betting season. The advantage for Atlanta in this game is that Orlando played a high intensity basketball betting game last night against Miami.