Orlando Magic vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction, Spread and Trends to Watch - 12/12/2021
Game Time: 9:30 PM ET, Sunday, December 12th, 2021
Venue: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Where to Watch: NBA League Pass
Opening NBA Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Spread: Lakers -11.5; O/U 220.5
BetMGM: Spread: NL
VegasInsider: Spread: Lakers -11.5; O/U 220.5
Season Record
Magic: 5-22, 14th place Eastern Conference
Lakers: 14-13, 6th place Western Conference
The Magic are almost the last place team in the league if not for the slightly worse Detroit Pistons. They still play basketball in the Amway Center… just not well. This NBA season in Orlando is all about roster decisions and tanking. That point was driven home clearly this last regular season when they traded Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, and Nikola Vucevic before the trade deadline and in return they got a pile of disparate pieces and lots of future draft picks. This year’s losing is all part of the plan. The Los Angeles Clippers, the Sacramento Kings, the Golden State Warriors, and the Houston Rockets make-up the four-game losing streak that they are currently on… So they lose to great teams, middling teams and other terrible teams.
The Lakers are in 6th place in the Western Conference standings… You would never know it from the media reaction they get. LeBron James is old and missing games, Anthony Davis is not an alpha… or Batman… or a Number 1, and Russell Westbrook will never gel or fit or change his game. With all that said: The Lakers have still won 4 of their last 6 games. They are in 6th place and have yet to enter any matchup fully healthy. For a team with a thin bench health is important. NBA predictions still grant the Lakers the type of point spreads that recent champions have with the best player of the last two decades on the roster. The Lakers are on a three-game in four day swing. They lost to the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday, beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday… and will have to guard against taking the Orlando Magic too lightly on Sunday.
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Orlando Magic vs Los Angeles Lakers Preview and Analysis
Recent Form
Orlando is 5-21 on the season, but 11-15 ATS. They have logged 14 Overs and 12 Unders. They are a shockingly bad 3-13 in road games.
The Lakers are 14-13 on the season, but 10-17 ATS. They are 9-7 in home games.
Offensive Analysis
The Magic are 28th in the league in points with 101.6 per game, 20th in rebounds with 44.5 per game, and 27th in AST/TO ratio with 1.4. They have serious shooting woes: 27th in FG%, 28th in 3PT%, and 19th in FT%... they rarely hit the bottom of the net on the first try…. The bad news is of course they are 27th in defense while allowing 112.0 ppg. There is an 11 point difference between what the score on average and what they allow on average… That’s how teams end up winning only 5 games out of 27 tries.
The Lakers are 5th in the league in scoring with 111.4 points per game, 6th in rebounds with 46.4 per game,... they stumble in AST/TO ratio with only 1.5 for 25th in the league… to solve that problem they need Russell Westbrook and LeBron to spend some actual time playing together. They are 6th in FG%, 13th in 3PT%, and a dreadful 28th in FT% (but they do have Dwight Howard)
Orlando Magic vs Los Angeles Lakers Prediction
Our prediction for Sunday, December 12th is…. LAL 118 - Orl 103
The Lakers are still feeling a sting from losing to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday. They will not let up against a Magic team that has even less good players.
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NBA Betting Trends
Orlando is 3-1 ATS versus the Lakers over the last 3 seasons.
Orlando is 2-0 versus the Lakers at Los Angeles over the last 3 seasons.
Injury list
Orlando: SG Jalen Suggs (thumb) Out indefinitely, 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… The Magic is missing everybody.
Los Angeles: PF Anthony Davis (knee) Questionable, PG Kendrick Nunn (ankle) Out, SF Trevor Ariza (ankle) Out, SF LeBron James (abdominal) Probable
Starting Lineups
Magic: PG Cole Anthony, SG Gary Harris, C Mo Bamba, SF Franz Wagner, PF Wendell Carter Jr
Lakers: G Avery Bradley, G Russell Westbrook, C Dwight Howard, PF LeBron James, SF Talen Horton-Tucker
Statistical Leaders
Orlando
Points: Cole Anthony 20.4
Assists: Cole Anthony 5.7
Rebounds: Wendell Carter Jr 10
Steals: Franz Wagner 1.1
Blocks: Mo Bamba 2.2
Lakers
Points: LeBron James 26
Assists: Russell Westbrook 8.6
Rebounds: Anthony Davis 10.2
Steals: LeBron James 1.9
Blocks: Anthony Davis 2.2
Coaches
Orlando: Jamahl Mosley. Coach Mosley is a first year head coach with a young roster and half of them are on the OUT INDEFINITELY list. He needs time and he needs that first pick in the next draft.
Los Angeles: Frank Vogel. Coach Vogel gets to weigh in on timeouts, substitutions, and what to scribble on the dry erase board… unless LeBron has other thoughts on any of that.