Orlando Magic vs Milwaukee Bucks Prediction, 12/21/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Orlando Magic vs Milwaukee Bucks

Date: Thursday, December 21, 2023

Location: Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI

TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin

Odds/Point Spread: Orlando (+8)

The Milwaukee Bucks (20-7) will try to defeat the Orlando Magic (16-9) at Fiserv Forum on Thursday. Milwaukee is 8-point favorites from Vegas oddsmakers. The over/under comes in at 239.5.

The Magic played the Celtics and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 114-97 in their last game. In regard to personal fouls, the Magic left the arena with 16 and the Celtics recorded 19 personal fouls. They also converted 17 out of their 36 tries from downtown. Boston ended up shooting 87.5% at the charity stripe by knocking down 7 of their 8 attempts. Moreover, Boston totaled 5 boards (10 offensive, -5 defensive) and had 4 rejections. Boston doled out 18 assists and had 4 steals for this contest. In the matter of defending, Orlando allowed their opponent to shoot 47.4% from the floor on 45 out of 95 shooting. They also recorded 18 assists in this contest in addition to forcing 14 turnovers and earning 7 steals. When discussing grabbing rebounds, they earned 43 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. From the free throw line, the Magic knocked down 18 of their 24 shots for a percentage of 75.0%. Orlando wrapped up the game having earned a 38.2% field goal percentage (34 out of 89) and made 11 of their 36 shots from distance.

Paolo Banchero is a guy who came through in this game. He recorded 36 points on 14 out of 30 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 36 minutes played and totaled 10 boards. Banchero walked away from this one shooting 46.7% from the field and totaled 1 assist.

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Orlando will enter this game with a mark of 16-9 for the season. They are losing possession via turnover 15.2 times per game and as a unit they are committing 21.6 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Orlando is collecting 43.6 boards per game and has totaled 626 assists on the season, which has them ranked 25th in the league in terms of passing the rock. The Magic are hitting 34.4% on shots from distance (256 of 745) and 76.6% from the charity stripe. They average 113.2 points per contest (19th in basketball) while shooting 47.5% from the floor.

When they are on defense, the Magic are forcing their opponents into 16.0 turnovers per contest while drawing 23.1 fouls. They concede 36.4% from 3-point land while they are 4th in the league in points per game allowed (109.9). The Magic defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 47.0% (999 of 2,127) and they relinquish 40.7 boards per contest as a basketball team. They are currently ranked 2nd in basketball in giving up assists with 580 relinquished for the season.

The last time they took the court, the Bucks walked away with a victory by a final of 132-119 against the Spurs. The Bucks were able to corral 36 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards for a total of 47 for this game. They gave up possession of the ball 6 times, while recording 11 steals for this contest. The Spurs committed 17 fouls for this contest which got the Bucks to the charity stripe for 18 attempts. They were able to make 14 of them for a rate of 77.8%. In terms of 3-pointers, Milwaukee converted 18 of their 49 tries (36.7%). When this game wrapped up, the Bucks went 50 for 106 from the field which had them shooting 47.2%. The Bucks allowed the Spurs to make 46 of 96 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.9% in the matchup. They went 30.0% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 9 of 30 and finished the game at 18 of 21 at the charity stripe (85.7%). In regard to rebounds, Milwaukee allowed San Antonio to grab 52 in all (8 offensive).

Damian Lillard ended up having an impact for the Bucks for this contest. He knocked down 14 of 22 for the game for a field goal percentage of 63.6%, and tallied 3 rebounds. Lillard accumulated 40 points in his 35 minutes on the hardwood and accumulated 4 dimes in the matchup.

Milwaukee has a win-loss record of 20-7 for the season. As an offensive unit, the Bucks are hitting on 50.1% from the floor, which is 2nd in the league. Milwaukee has tallied 3,366 points so far this year (124.7 per game) and they pull in 44.1 rebounds per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 25.8 times per contest (16th in the league) and they are losing possession via turnover 13.6 times per contest. The Bucks are committing 20.1 fouls per game and they shoot 77.3% from the free throw line.

The Milwaukee defense gives up 35.3% on three-point shots (330 of 935) and their opposition makes 82.5% of their free throw shots. They have relinquished 26.6 assists and 44.1 boards every game, which ranks them 17th and 20th in the NBA. The Bucks on the defensive end are ranked 23rd in basketball in points given up per game with 119.2. They are forcing 12.9 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 46.9% from the field (15th in the NBA).

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Orlando (+8)

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