The Orlando Magic (5-6) and New York Knicks (7-3) will face off in the NBA tonight. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. EST from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game will broadcast live on ESPN.
The Knicks are 4.5-point favorites over the Magic on the spread (Knicks -4.5), with the over/under set at 227 total points. New York is a -185 favorite to win outright on the moneyline, while Orlando is +160 to pull off the upset.
Let's get into my Magic vs. Knicks predictions and NBA picks for Wednesday, November 12.
My Magic vs Knicks Prediction
- Magic vs Knicks picks: Jalen Suggs Over 15.5 Points + Assists (-135), Mitchell Robinson Over 6.5 Rebounds (-135)
My Knicks vs. Magic best bets are on Jalen Suggs over 15.5 points + assists and Mitchel Robinson over 6.5 rebounds, with the best price tags currently available at BetMGM. As always, make sure to find the best odds by checking our live NBA odds page.
Magic vs Knicks Odds
| Magic Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+4.5 -110 | 227 -110o / -110u | +160 |
| Knicks Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-4.5 -110 | 227 -110o / -110u | -185 |
Magic vs Knicks NBA Preview
Just last night, the Knicks played excellent basketball… for the first half.
And then, after holding a 28-point lead with 1:24 left in the third quarter, the game somehow became a 10-point contest with 3:33 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Mike Brown told us (I was at the game, press conference, etc.) post-game about the importance of the Knicks putting together 48 straight minutes of basketball, which they haven't done this season… the new version they aspire to, at least.
"We didn't sprint back like we should have… we did not play our rules. They got layup after layup after layup… after layup after layup," Brown noted post-game, among other comments.
This was a game the Knicks dominated and should've been able to rest their key contributors, but they needed their core to close.
So, on the front end of a back-to-back — for a game that tips off roughly 21 hours after this one concluded, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby needed to play between 35 and 38 minutes.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart also logged 30-plus each. And the Knicks only went nine deep in their rotation.
Orlando enters this contest tonight on a rest advantage after outlasting the Trail Blazers with a buzzer-beater at home on Monday.
They're still just 5-6 on the year, playing well below their lofty pre-season expectations, but it's not quite as dire as their 1-4 start was, although little has changed since then.
Orlando has won 4-of-6, but they're just 4-7 against the spread on the year.
In fact, tonight will be the first time all season that the Magic are betting underdogs.
The Knicks, who are 7-0 at home, are 7-3 straight up and against the spread, and 6-3 ATS as the favorite.
Injury-wise, the Knicks are expecting a clean report tonight with Mitchell Robinson having sat last night. The Magic, minus Mo Wagner — who tore his ACL in January — is expected to be at full strength.
Magic vs Knicks Prediction, Betting Analysis
Two plays I like in this one.
The first is Jalen Suggs over 15.5 points + assists.
He's hit this in three straight, but the key is his minutes. Suggs logged, for the first time all season, more than 21 minutes in a game last time out.
They lost to Boston on Sunday, and he ended the night with 20 points and four rebounds.
This is another game where Suggs should see bigger minutes, given that he's on two nights' rest, having sat against Portland. (He's sitting one leg of back-to-backs this year.)
Suggs will also benefit from the Knicks' primary defenders, i.e., OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, likely having their hands full with Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane more often by comparison.
Suggs' shooting percentage (he's averaging 15 and four on about 63/62/89 shooting over his last three) probably isn't sustainable, but the minutes should bring forth increased opportunities.
Next is Mitchell Robinson over 6.5 rebounds. We've only seen him four times this year. Here's how his rebounding has been distributed.
- 11 in 20 minutes in Chicago
- 5 in 13 minutes vs. Chicago
- 10 in 16 minutes vs. Minnesota
- 8 in 17 minutes vs. Brooklyn
He's averaging 8.5 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per contest. His current rebound percentage is 28.3, 8.3 percentage points higher than last year — which was his career high.
Also, he's pulling down 25 boards per 100 possessions, which is just insane.
Even with the Magic allowing the 7th-fewest boards per 100 possessions, hardly anyone is rebounding more efficiently than Robinson.
Picks: Jalen Suggs Over 15.5 Points + Assists (-135), Mitchell Robinson Over 6.5 Rebounds (-135)
Spread
I'm not betting either side of the spread in this contest.
Moneyline
No play on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I'm backing Jalen Suggs to go over his points + assists total and Mitchel Robinson to go over his rebounds total.
Knicks vs Magic Betting Trends
