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NBA Betting: Atlanta Hawks Season Long Handicapping 3/16/2026 vs. Orlando Magic

by Spencer Toth - 3/16/2026

NBA betting Atlanta Hawks season long handicapping vs Orlando Magic Zaccharie Risacher

All year long, Doc’s Sports has been breaking down every Atlanta Hawks weekday game while providing best bets along the way. In my four years of running this column, this has been the most profitable season yet, as we are more than 55 units in the green so far. Every pick has been posted here, 100% free, and the job is far from over. There are 15 regular-season games left before the playoffs, and the red-hot Hawks appear poised to make a postseason appearance. 

Doc’s Sports offers NBA expert picks for every game on our NBA predictions page.

On Thursday night, the Atlanta Hawks took down the Brooklyn Nets 108-97 to win an eighth straight game. Atlanta jumped out to a 15-point lead against the lowly Nets but let Brooklyn hang around for most of the contest. The two teams were at one point tied in the fourth, but the Hawks' late-game heroics let them avoid an embarrassing defeat. Jalen Johnson led the way with 21 points, while Zaccharie Risacher had a breakout game with 19 points and 9 rebounds, with a 3-for-5 clip from deep and a game-high +17 +/-. Jonathan Kuminga made his fourth appearance in a Hawks uniform, and while his two points left him largely ineffective on offense, he collected nine rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. 

From a betting perspective, we had another winning night. We took Risacher to go over 7.5 points and 10+ points at +165 (and I was so close to taking 15+ too) for a pair of nice cashes. He scored nine points in the first quarter to give us a huge early cash, but we weren’t able to complete the sweep as the Hawks fell just short of covering the -15 point spread. 

The Hawks then made it nine wins in a row with their victory over the Bucks on Saturday. The Hawks won all four quarters to win 122-99, as CJ McCollum poured in 30 points while Jalen Johnson posted a 23-point triple-double. 

Tonight, the Atlanta Hawks (36-31) will look to make it ten straight wins when they host the Orlando Magic (38-28). This is going to be a good one. The Hawks' controversial ‘Magic City Night’ was canceled after uproar around the league, but there will still be the famous lemon pepper wings and T.I. performing at halftime. Regardless of the promotion, this is a massive regular-season game between the Magic and Hawks. Orlando has won seven games in a row heading into this one, and just 2.5 games separate the 5th-place Magic and the 9th-place Hawks. A tenth straight win for Atlanta would tighten things up even closer with 15 games to go in the regular season. 

Orlando has thrived on the defensive end this season, and they will need another strong showing there if they hope to win eight straight games. What has made their recent hot streak even more impressive is that they are doing it all without Franz Wagner available. Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane have had to pick up the slack offensively, while the rest of the Magic starters are there for their defensive work. Banchero is a traditional three-level scorer who can find success anywhere on the court, and he will need to get his drives going against a Hawks defense that likes to space the floor. Bane is more of a traditional shooter, and the Hawks have no shortage of on-ball defenders to affect his deep ball shots. Their next best scorer after Banchero and Bane is Anthony Black, who has featured in 60 of the Magic’s 66 games this season. Black is a crucial member of this squad on both ends of the court, as his 15.3 PPG is hard to replace, while his ability to rotate with Banchero in screen-and-rolls on defense has been essential. Black has picked up an injury tonight and will not be available, leaving the Magic scrambling to find a suitable replacement. 

While Orlando represents a step up in competition compared to the non-playoff teams the Hawks have been beating up on, I still don’t think their win streak will be snapped. Aside from Kuminga being questionable, the Hawks are fully healthy, while the Magic are missing two impactful starters. Atlanta has already beaten the Magic twice this year and will look to take a 3-0 season series lead before these two meet again in April. 

Orlando may be a solid defensive team, but there are still avenues for the Hawks to exploit tonight. The Magic do a great job at clogging the paint and taking away interior scoring, but the Hawks have no shortage of perimeter threats to still deploy. Johnson is likely in store for a pass-first game tonight, but with Alexander-Walker, McCollum, Vincent, and Kispert all raining it from deep, Orlando will not be able to cheat on the inside. One man I expect to step up tonight is Dyson Daniels. His offense has left plenty to be desired, but he has proven his worth with his non-stop hustle on defense and a knack for scooping up rebounds off the glass. Orlando is very vulnerable when it comes to small forwards who crash the offensive glass, and they will find it hard to slow down Daniels with Black unable to suit up. The interior defenders will have their hands full with Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu on the inside, leaving Daniels free on the weak side to grab valuable extra possessions. We have already made a fortune tailing Daniels in the rebounding department this year, and we will do so again tonight. Despite the fact that Daniels has collected 7+ rebounds in four straight games and eight of his last ten, his rebounding prop has held firm at 6.5. I expected to be forced into a tough choice at 7.5 rebounds, but that is not the case here. We will gladly put most of our wager on over 6.5 rebounds for Daniels, while sprinkling one unit on 10+ at +450 odds. 

In terms of the standard point spread at -3, we will play it safe with the -150 moneyline with the Hawks. I know there isn’t much of a difference between -3 and the moneyline, but I really expect this one to go down to the wire, with the Hawks to prevail. Orlando has seen their last three games go down to the final minute, and the Hawks' tendency to get off to slow starts could come back to bite them here. I am still a fan at -150 on the moneyline and will stick with that in terms of game props. 

Jumping back to the player props, we will also be taking Alexander-Walker to have a big night from deep. I wanted to tail Corey Kispert to take advantage of the Magic’s shallow bench at shooting guard, but his props have not been released. We will instead stick to Alexander-Walker, who should be able to take advantage when Jalen Suggs is draped on McCollum and Vincent at point guard. Alexander-Walker is averaging 20.0 PPG this season and has scored 20+ in five of his last six, yet his prop is at 17.5 points. I know this is a tough matchup against Orlando, but expecting a serious drop-off in production from an incredibly consistent scorer is not realistic. We will take over 17.5 points at -115 and also sprinkle on 25+ points at +390 odds. 

Pick: Dyson Daniels Over 6.5 Rebounds 4 Units

Pick: Dyson Daniels 10+ Rebounds +450 1 Unit

Pick: Atlanta Hawks Moneyline -150 4 Units

Pick: Nickeil Alexander-Walker Over 17.5 Points -115 4 Units

Pick: Nickeil Alexander-Walker 25+ Points +390 1 Unit

2025-26 Season Record:
Moneyline: 13-6

Spread: 17-18

Total: 3-10

Player Props: 44-23

Overall: 78-56

Total Units: Up 56.2 Units 

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