Nelly’s Monday Game 2 Delivery 83-58 RUN
- Handicapper
- Nelly's Sports
- League
- NBA
- Competition
- Orlando Magic vs Cleveland Cavaliers
- Time
- 04/22/2024 07:05 PM
- Bet Type
- Point Spread
- Pick
-
Cleveland Cavaliers -5.5 (-108)
(DraftKings)
- Outcome
- Win
- Analysis
- While a zig-zag approach is commonly applied in playoff series action, in the first round of the NBA playoffs, hosts that win and cover in Game 1 often do so again in Game 2, including those teams 15-4 S/U and 14-5 ATS since 2016. Every host won in the Game 1s of first round of the playoffs over the weekend with seven of eight hosts covering as well. Cleveland’s win over Orlando was a dominant one, despite the 4/5 seeding and just one game of separation in the standings. In the first postseason appearance for many Magic players, Orlando shot just over 32 percent overall while held to below 22 percent from 3-point range. Cleveland won comfortably even with 18 turnovers as the Cavaliers excelled defensively and controlled the rebounding. Having a go-to leader like Donovan Mitchell is critical in the playoffs while the formidable frontcourt of Cleveland should make things difficult for the Magic the entire series. Orlando is only 18-24 S/U on the road this season and the great ATS season for the Magic was mostly built early in the season as the Magic surprised as an ahead of schedule playoff threat with its young nucleus. The Magic faced one of the league’s weakest schedules in winning the Southeast Division and Orlando was only +2.0 in average scoring differential for the season, while featuring a negative differential in road games. Cleveland’s defense faltered a bit down the stretch, but the team has several runs of elite performance this season and can rise to that level in the playoffs, as holding Orlando to 83 points on Saturday displayed. Look for Game 2 to follow a similar trajectory as Game 1 with the spread unchanged despite the result.
Thank you for playing with Nelly’s and Best of Luck.
