Game Time: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, January 14th, 2022 

Venue:  Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

Opening NBA Odds at USA Sportsbooks

DraftKings:  Spread: NL

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread:  NL

WynnBet: Spread: NL

Magic: 7-35, 15th place Eastern Conference

Hornets: 23-19, 7th place Eastern Conference

A matchup of Eastern Conference opponents going in very different directions.  The Magic would very much like to be the Hornets a year from now… The Hornets never want to go back to being the Magic… though they have been not long ago.

The Orlando Magic are the worst team in basketball and they are happy about it. It took a certain type of awful to get jumped by the horrendous Detroit Pistons, but the Magic have accomplished it.  During the Covid absences, when bad teams had the advantage of finally being equal… the Magic still managed to lose… and lose hard.  When you look at the Magic roster you do not see an obvious starting five… at all.  You see a collection of rookies, 2nd year players, bad contracts, and perennially injured mooks.  You see undrafted free agents coming in off the street and playing just as well (or bad) as the starters they are replacing during Covid.  The most glaring thing you see is no clear direction.  At any position they could choose from 2-3 guys who were taken highly in the NBA draft recently to start and develop, but the other guy could too.  Either way they will lose… but who do you put the future on?... The answer is LOSING.  The future is about finding more and more high draft picks until the Magic finally land a guy they are comfortable trading everyone else to build around.  In this last NBA draft (2021) the Orlando Magic took point guard Jalen Suggs and played him at the shooting guard position when he plays (because he has been hurt) even though his position is clearly point guard.  At the point guard position the Magic also have ruined vet Michael Carter Williams, former #1 pick and ruined vet Markelle Fultz, and former #15 pick in the 2020 draft Cole Anthony… that is all too much development for one position to handle… and they are doing it everywhere on the court.  At Center the Magic have to choose from almost done veteran Robin Lopez or 2018 #7 pick Wendell Carter Jr or 2018 #6 pick Mo Bamba… who do you play? Who do you develop? Who do you use as part of a trade package?  The answer is no one cares.  They want to lose.  They need to lose.  None of this works unless they get top picks over the next two drafts and trade away everyone.  A team built entirely around potential that has literally lost 10 of their last ten games!!  That isn’t an accident.  Before you go thinking you have a bead on a prime betting opportunity remember all that losing came with 5-5 ATS… You know they will lose but can’t tell easily when they will cover.  If this league had relegation?.. The Magic would be out of the NBA next season (along with the Pistons).

The Charlotte Hornets remember the dark days of being cellar-dwellers in the East…. It is every day before this day over the last twenty seasons.  Charles Barkely was right… Michael Jordan could not draft players and as a result was terrible at being an owner.  Charles doesn’t get to hang with Michael anymore, but I never did so I can say it. Anyone remember Cody Zeller, Noah Vonleh, Shabazz Napier, Frank Kamitzsky, and Malachi Richardson… Those are the 1st round picks of the Charlotte Hornets from 2013-2016.  It has been a desert with no oasis… until 2020… In 2020 The Charlotte Hornets drafted LaMelo Ball… a seemingly true superstar.  LaMelo Ball joined a young athletic team that had benefited from trading PG Kemba Walker to the Celtics and their 2018 pick (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) to the Clippers and used the returns to create a group that had guard Terry Rozier, PF Miles Bridges, and C Mason Plumlee… they added SF Gordon Hayward in free agency (he’s a guy no contender would touch with a ten foot pole because of the injury history)... and the added LaMelo Ball.  The best of the Ball brothers.  The youngest Ball who is fulfilling the promise his daddy made about Lonzo several years ago.  LaMelo is an all-star.  LaMelo is coming off a rookie of the year year… LaMelo is leading the Hornets to new heights.  The playoffs are currently the destination.  Charlotte is on a 4-game winning streak and have won 7 of their last ten games.  

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Orlando is 7-35 on the season, but 19-23 ATS.  They have logged 21 Overs and 21 Unders.  They are a disastrous 5-20 in road games.

Charlotte is 23-19 on the season, but 26-16 ATS.  They have notched 22 Overs, 19 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are a wonderful 12-5 in home games.

The Magic are 28th in scoring with 101.8 ppg, 21st in rebounds with 44.0 per, and a dreadful 28th in AST/TO ratio with 1.5.  They are terrible at shooting: 28th in FG%, 27th in 3PT%.  On defense they are ranked 22nd and allow opponents to score 110.9 ppg. Any win they ever get at this point is random… They allow 9.1 more points than they score on average!  That’s a recipe for constant failure.

The Hornets are 2nd in the league in scoring with 115.0 ppg, 23rd in rebounds with 43.9 per, and 2nd in AST/TO with 2. They are shooting 9th in FG% and 3rd in 3PT%... the fatal flaw on offense is at the free throw line where they are ranked 27th and only manage 73.8%.  The area they need to focus on is defense where they are ranked 29th and allow 115.5 ppg from opponents.  This is a team that needs to shore up defense or they will be bounced in the first round of the playoffs.  The trade deadline is 3 ½ weeks away and considering how well LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges are playing they may want to drop some future draft capital for an upgrade at PF or Center.

Our prediction for Friday, January 14th is….  Hornets 120 - Magic 104

The Hornets don't play great defense, but the Magic don’t play great anything. The Hornets should win and win easily especially when we look at the Magic’s injury report and see that an inexperienced team also has little to no bench.

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The Magic are 2-1 versus Charlotte at Charlotte over the last three seasons.

2 of 3 games in this series at Charlotte have gone Over the total.

Charlotte is 5-1 ATS after allowing 100 points or less this season.

Charlotte is 14-3 ATS in home games this season.

Magic: C Wendell Carter JR (hamstring) Quest ** C Mo Bamba (toe) Quest ** SG Jalen Suggs (thumb) Out ** PG Markelle Fultz (knee) Out indefinitely ** SG E'twaun Moore (knee) Out indefinitely ** PF Jonathan Isaac (knee) Out indefinitely ** PG Michael Carter Williams (ankle) Out indefinitely

Hornets: SF Kelly Oubre Jr (covid) Out ** C Kai Jones (covid) Out

Magic: PF Chuma Okeke, Sf Franz Wagner, C Robin Lopez, SG Gary Harris, PG Cole Anthony

Hornets: PF Miles Bridges, SF Gordon Hayward, C Mason Plumlee, SG LaMelo Ball, Pg Terry Rozier

Magic

Points: Cole Anthony 19.8

Assists: Cole Anthony 5.9

Rebounds: Wendell Carter Jr 10.3

Steals: Chuma Okeke 1.3

Blocks: Mo Bamba 2.1

Hornets

Points: Miles Bridges 19.6

Assists: LaMelo Ball 7.6

Rebounds: LaMelo Ball 7.3

Steals: LaMelo Ball 1.6

Blocks: PJ Washington 1.1

Magic: Jamahl Mosley.  Coach Mosley deserves better than the eventual blame for this roster’s performance.

Hornets: James Borrego.  Coach Borrego got to Charlotte at the right time in history.