Magic vs Celtics Betting Line

The Boston Celtics (30-9) get an up close and personal look at one of their chief rivals for the 2011 NBA Eastern Conference Championship this year, as the Orlando Magic (26-14) come to town Monday night. This Martin Luther King Day special is the marquee match-up for the day. If the Celtics are without Kevin Garnett, Boston will be hard pressed to slow down Dwight Howard. Still, Boston is favored by 3 points at Sportsbook.com heading into the game.

Latest Magic at Celtics Point Spread & Betting Lines

As you can see below, the Magic vs Celtics point spread is the same everywhere, except BetUS.com where you can get an extra half-point on the Magic. If you want the Celtics -3 or the best Celtics money line, we recommend Sportsbook.com where it’s easy for U.S. bettors to fund their accounts with Visa credit & debit cards. For the over/under, take the over at BetUS, who is the only sportsbook at 192. For the under, go to Bodog.com, the only book at 193.

Orlando Magic vs Boston Celtics NBA Game Preview

The Orlando Magic ruined Boston’s Christmas Day as the revamped Magic won 86-78 to set a tone for how good they can be this year. Since then the Magic have gelled, winning nine in a row before dropping back-to-back heartbreakers this week.

Orlando started a five game road trip with a ten point win over Dallas before dropping an overtime thriller to New Orleans, and a 125-124 ABA-style run-n-gun loss to Oklahoma City. They followed that up with a 108-99 win against Minnesota on Saturday.

Dwight Howard is still the undisputed leader of the Magic (22 points, 13.4 boards per game), but now he has Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu as legitimate outside threats. Richardson is accounting for 14.8 PPG while Turkoglu is averaging 11.8 PPG. In the last meeting with Boston, Tukoglu had 15 points while surprising Brandon Bass dropped in 21 points. J.J. Redick has added 10.1 points a game while Gilbert Arenas gives Orlando a fourth option adding 9.5 points per game. Arenas has been slowed by injury, but if he hits his stride the Magic will be even tougher offensively.

Since the last meeting with the Magic, Boston has seen Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Shaquille O’Neal and Jermaine O’Neal all miss significant time due to injury. Rondo and Shaq are back and Garnett may be in the lineup on Monday against the Magic.

Garnett missed nine games and the Celtics went 6-3 during that stretch, mostly behind superb play from Glen Davis and Luke Harangody. Davis is averaging 12.5 points a game while Harangody had been warming the bench most of the year. Of late, he’s been getting quality crunch time minutes and playing well in the paint. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen still lead Boston with 19.2 points and 17.5 points per game respectively.

Orlando Magic vs Boston Celtics Prediction

Without Garnett, Orlando and Howard will dominate the inside. Even with KG, Boston will struggle as coach Doc Rivers will limit his minutes. This is a big game but far more important for Orlando than Boston. Look for the Magic to up tempo the Celtics and win going away. Since we’re picking the Magic straight-up, we’re taking the money line, +145 at BetUS.com.

If you want the point spread, you can get the Magic +3.5 at BetUS.com as well, while all the other sportsbooks are at Magic +3.

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