Orlando Magic vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 12/18/2022 Preview and Pick

Game: Orlando Magic vs Boston Celtics

Date: Sunday, December 18, 2022

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics welcome the Orlando Magic at TD Garden on Sunday.

The Magic took the court against the Hawks and earned the victory with a final of 135-124 in their last game. Orlando wrapped up the game having earned a 50.5% field goal percentage (47 out of 93) and converted 16 of their 36 three-point attempts. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Magic knocked down 25 of 30 shots for a rate of 83.3%. In terms of hauling in rebounds, they collected 46 with 14 of them being of the offensive variety. They also recorded 28 assists in the game in addition to forcing the opposition into 13 turnovers and earning 10 steals. Concerning the defense, Orlando allowed the other team to go 50.0% from the field on 44 out of 88 shooting. Atlanta doled out 30 dimes and had 2 steals in this matchup. Moreover, Atlanta grabbed 39 rebounds (11 offensive, 28 defensive) and had 6 rejections. Atlanta finished the game shooting 88.9% from the charity stripe by burying 24 of their 27 tries. They converted 12 of their 35 attempts from beyond the arc. In relation to fouls, the Magic walked away with 22 and the Hawks accounted for 21 fouls.

Franz Wagner is a guy who came through in the matchup. He finished with 24 points on 7 of 17 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 36 minutes and grabbed 3 rebounds. Wagner finished the game shooting 41.2% from the floor and also distributed 4 assists.

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Orlando comes into this contest with a record of 9-20 so far this season. They currently have an average of 109.1 points per contest (28th in the NBA) while connecting on 47.0% from the field. The Magic are shooting 34.4% on shots from beyond the arc (309 of 897) and 80.1% from the charity stripe. As a team, Orlando is pulling in 43.0 rebounds per game and has 626 dimes for the year, which is 28th in the NBA in terms of passing. They are giving up possession 16.4 times per contest and as a squad they commit 21.3 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

Defensively, the Magic have forced 13.6 turnovers per game while drawing 20.2 fouls. They are giving up 33.8% on 3-point shots and they are 15th in the league in opponents points per game (113.7). The Magic are giving up a field goal percentage of 47.4% (1,205 of 2,542) and they relinquish 40.8 rebounds per game as a group. They are currently ranked 25th in basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 738 relinquished this season.

The last time they took the court, the Celtics went home victorious with a score of 122-118 when they faced the Lakers. In relation to attacking the glass, Boston permitted Los Angeles to get 49 in all (7 on the offensive glass). They finished 27.6% from three-point range by going 8 of 29 and walked away from this one shooting 22 out of 30 from the free throw line (73.3%). The Celtics permitted the Lakers to knock down 44 out of 93 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 47.3% for the game. Overall, the Celtics ended up shooting 46 for 104 from the field which gave them a rate of 44.2%. Concerning 3-point attempts, Boston knocked down 19 of their 48 tries (39.6%). They were able to bury 11 of the free throws for a rate of 68.8%. The Lakers earned 17 personal fouls in the matchup which took the Celtics to the charity stripe for a total of 16 shots. They also turned it over 14 times, while recording 6 steals for this game. The Celtics corralled 38 defensive boards and 13 offensive rebounds totaling 51 for the game.

Jayson Tatum was important for the Celtics for the game. He knocked down 15 out of 29 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 51.7%, and tallied 9 rebounds. Tatum earned 44 points in his 44 minutes of playing time and accounted for 6 dimes in this matchup.

Boston has a win-loss mark of 22-7 this season. On the offensive side of the ball, the Celtics are hitting on 48.8% from the field, which is 3rd in the league. Boston has totaled 3,463 pts on the year (119.4 per contest) and they average 42.8 rebounds per contest. They are earning an assist 26.8 times per game (8th in the NBA) and they turn it over 13.7 times per contest. The Celtics are committing 20.2 personal fouls per game and they shoot 82.9% from the charity stripe.

The Boston defense gives up 34.8% from downtown (322 of 924) and their opponents are connecting on 78.0% of their shots from the charity stripe. They surrender 21.9 assists and 44.2 boards per game, ranking them 2nd and 22nd in the NBA. The Celtics on the defensive end are ranked 13th in basketball in PPG given up with 112.6. They are forcing their opponents into 13.2 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 46.8% from the field (15th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Boston

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