Nets vs Magic Pick, Prediction Today | Wednesday, March 13

Here's everything you need to know about Nets vs. Magic on Wednesday, March 13 — our expert prediction and betting picks for today's game.

The Brooklyn Nets have turned it up offensively to take four of their last seven, but now they'll be put further to the test when they face a hard-nosed Orlando Magic defense that has carried this team back to the top five in the Eastern Conference over the last few weeks.

Will the Magic rebound on Wednesday after two disappointing losses to get back to dominating, or will the Nets find a second straight quality win?

Let's break down the best way to bet Nets vs. Magic on Wednesday.

The Nets are feeling good after breaking through the Cavaliers defense for a big 19-point win in Cleveland on Monday, and now they're set to return Cameron Johnson to further bolster their offensive look entering another tough game on Wednesday.

In shooting 40% from deep over the last five games, the Nets have begun to rise back up the ranks offensively as they attempt to make up what's now a 4.5-game margin between them and the Hawks, who currently occupy the final spot in the play-in tournament.

Brooklyn has been merely average on offense this season and below-average defensively, but with a collective 2.6-point improvement per 100 possessions in the last five contests, this team is finally starting to string together some good performances as it gets back to full health.

So far in the month of March, Brooklyn has ranked fourth in the NBA when it comes to shooting the 3, according to Cleaning the Glass, though it's hard to find any positives other than that on offense.

Defensively, it still ranks 20th in stopping shots within four feet and against the 3-ball, coming up with stops only against the midrange jumper.

This is actually a step in the wrong direction for a team that has been so strong in defending the rim all season long, and it's hard to find a good excuse given the strength of schedule.

With that said, it's worth noting that this team's two poor performances came against two of the worst teams in the league in the Hornets and Pistons. Against the better teams, it has been far more efficient on both ends of the floor.

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The Magic haven't found a way to figure out the Nets this season, dropping two of their three meetings in the season series, though their most recent encounter on Feb. 27 offered plenty of hope.

They held the Nets to just 84.4 points per 100 possessions — Brooklyn's lowest output of the year to this point — though they didn't have to deal with Cam Thomas in that one as he sat with an injury.

With Thomas and now Johnson back, this game has the makings of a different one.

Sure, those two Nets wins featured Spencer Dinwiddie, but neither featured the two-Cameron pairing they'll have to combat on Wednesday.

An already-hot Nets team from 3 will get even stronger, though Orlando will be able to rely on what's been a firmly above-average 3-point defense this season — one that ranks ninth in March by allowing just 35% of shots to fall.

The good news here is that the Magic remain a strong defense at the rim, but the bad news is that most of Brooklyn's shots have come from deep this year. The Nets have also shot the 3 slightly worse on the road this season, but in three road contests over the last two weeks, Brooklyn is shooting a blistering 41.5% from deep. So, it's hard to find positives there.

The Magic, who sit atop the league in frequency of shots within four feet, will be hoping that the Nets' recent trend of being generous in the restricted area continues and that their ordinarily strong frontcourt defense doesn't reappear.

In the month of March, Orlando is knocking down even more shots in that range to rank 12th in the NBA.

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It seems like beating a dead horse to say yet another NBA game will come down to the 3-point line, but that seems to be the case in this one.

Brooklyn's only been able to compete off the back of its shooting from outside, and it's harder to find a hotter team from beyond the arc right now. To make matters more troubling for Orlando, now Johnson is returning from a three-game absence to further solidify this team's attack from outside.

The Magic have been solid against the 3, but it doesn't seem likely that any team will slow the Nets' roll from deep right now.

On top of that, Brooklyn has been really good at defending shots at the rim all year even with a slight blip over the last couple of weeks.

This is a good matchup for the Nets, and with the way they've performed lately on the road, this should be a tough one for the Magic to grab hold of.

They're a stunning 13-3 against the spread as home favorites this season, but this seems to be too many points to spot Brooklyn given how the season series has gone and with the recent trends we've seen.

Pick: Nets +7.5 (-110)

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