Heat Face Magic In Southeast Clash
Friends Dwyane Wade and Victor Oladipo could face each other when Orlando hosts Miami.
The Miami Heat travels upstate Wednesday to face the Orlando Magic in the first of four games between the division rivals this season.
Tip-off is scheduled for shortly after 7:00 p.m. ET from Amway Center in downtown Orlando, Fla.
The Heat will look to make it five wins on the bounce when they take to the court in Orlando, having handed the Atlanta Hawks a 104-88 loss on Tuesday night.
The comfortable win saw both Ray Allen and Mario Chalmers return to the side. Allen, who has been suffering from flu-like symptoms, scored 17 points to go alongside Chris Bosh’s 19. Chalmers, who was suspended one game for a hard hit on Dirk Nowitzki, had a 9-point outburst in a 39-second span of the third quarter that effectively put Miami out of reach.
Miami (8-3, 2-2 road) is now 3-0 against division opponents.
Orlando (4-6, 4-2 home) has been idle since Saturday after losing at home to the Dallas Mavericks. The 108-100 defeat made it four losses in five games for Jacque Vaughn’s side, a run of poor form that has somewhat marred what was a surprisingly good start to the season for last year’s 30th-ranked Magic.
Vaughn has put his faith behind rookie guard Victor Oladipo. The University of Indiana standout is averaging 11.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 25.5 minutes of playing time. Vaughn opted to keep the rookie in the game late against Dallas, at the expense of Jameer Nelson. Oladipo had nine turnovers in the game.
Oladipo may get the opportunity to go up against his friend Dwyane Wade on Wednesday, providing the Heat swingman takes to the floor. Wade missed Tuesday’s game against the Hawks with a knee injury.
LeBron James had a fairly quiet game Tuesday, at least by his standards. He tallied 13 points on 6 for 13 shooting to go alongside seven rebounds. The slow night brought his average down to 26.0 points per game, ranking him third in the league behind Kevin Durant (29.6 PPG) and Kevin Love (26.7 PPG).
Orlando will be hoping James has another quiet night on Wednesday. A season ago, the reigning MVP averaged 28.7 points per game in three contests against the Magic, all wins for the Heat. In two of those games he also dished out 11 assists.
Last season’s sweep marked the first time since the 2008-09 season that the two teams had not split the regular season series evenly. It also marked the first time since the 2004-05 campaign that Miami defeated Orlando in the season head-to-head. Orlando had been 19-12 during that run.
The all-time head-to-head between the two teams, who entered the NBA just one-year apart, currently stands at 51-44 in favor of Miami.
Miami Heat vs. Orlando Magic odds for 11/20/2013
Winners of four straight, Miami (-340) opened as the favorite over Orlando (+297) on the moneyline.
The spread opened at 8.5 but has already slipped to 7.5 with some sportsbooks.
Miami (5-6-0 ATS) is 3-0-0 ATS when playing a division opponent this season. However, the team is 3-10-1 ATS in its last 14 visits to Orlando. The Heat looks good to improve on that Wednesday as they face an Orlando side that has not covered the spread in five straight games.
The over/under opened at 199.5 and has slipped to 198.5.
Miami (7-4-0) has favored the over this season while Orlando (4-6-0) has favored the under. The total has gone over in four of the last six meetings between the sides as well as five of the last six played between the two in Orlando.
After Wednesday night’s game both teams will remain idle until Saturday, when Miami returns the favor and hosts Orlando at American Airlines Arena (7:30 p.m. ET).
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