Orlando Magic vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 1/17/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: Orlando Magic vs Boston Celtics

Date: Friday, January 17, 2025

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

The Orlando Magic (23-19) are traveling to TD Garden on Friday where they will take on the Boston Celtics (28-12).

The Magic played the Bucks and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 122-93 in their last contest. Orlando finished the contest with a 34.7% FG percentage (33 of 95) and converted 12 out of their 46 three-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Magic converted 15 of 21 shots for a percentage of 71.4%. Regarding rebounding, they compiled 32 with 9 of them being offensive. They also doled out 24 dimes in the matchup while forcing 21 turnovers and earning 13 steals. Pertaining to defense, Orlando let their opponent shoot 62.5% from the floor on 45 out of 72 shooting. Milwaukee recorded 24 dimes and had 10 steals for this game. Moreover, Milwaukee grabbed 49 boards (3 offensive, 46 defensive) and earned 1 block. Milwaukee ended up going 71.4% when shooting free throws by burying 25 of their 35 attempts. They converted 7 out of their 12 shots from beyond the arc. In regard to fouls, the Magic walked away with 24 while the Bucks finished the game with 20 fouls.

Paolo Banchero is a player who played a role for this contest. He ended up with 22 points on 8 out of 20 shooting. He saw the court for 26 mins played and grabbed 5 rebounds. Banchero finished the game shooting 40.0% from the floor and also earned 2 dimes.

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Orlando steps onto the court with a record of 23-19 this season. They lose possession by turning the ball over 15.1 times per contest and as a group are committing 20.4 personal fouls per game. As a team, Orlando is snagging 41.5 rebounds per game and has earned 993 dimes on the campaign, which has them ranked 22nd in the league in terms of passing the ball. The Magic are shooting 30.7% on 3-point shots (479 of 1,560) and 77.5% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 104.5 points per contest (30th in the league) while shooting 44.3% from the floor.

When they are on the defensive end, the Magic are able to force 17.0 turnovers every game and they draw 20.8 fouls. They currently rank 3rd in basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 926 relinquished on the year. The Magic defensively are allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 46.7% (1,573 of 3,368) and they concede 40.8 boards per contest as a unit. They surrender 36.3% from beyond the arc and they rank 2nd in basketball in opponents PPG (103.7).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Celtics went home defeated by a final of 110-97 when they faced the Raptors. The Celtics corralled 32 defensive boards and 13 offensive boards totaling 45 for the contest. They turned the ball over 9 times, while earning 6 steals in the matchup. The Raptors had 19 personal fouls for the contest which took the Celtics to the charity stripe for a total of 18 tries. They were able to make 9 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 50.0%. When it comes to shots from 3-point land, Boston made 16 of their 46 attempts (34.8%). Overall, the Celtics went 36 out of 91 from the floor which had them shooting 39.6%. The Celtics allowed the Raptors to make 45 of 89 tries from the field which had them at 50.6% for this game. They finished the game shooting 32.4% from distance by hitting 11 out of 34 and finished the game at 9 out of 15 from the free throw line (60.0%). When discussing attacking the glass, Boston allowed Toronto to snag 56 in total (13 on the offensive glass).

Payton Pritchard ended up having an impact for the Celtics for the contest. Pritchard scored 20 points in his 31 minutes of playing time and had 4 dimes for the matchup. He knocked down 7 out of 11 for the game for a field goal rate of 63.6%, and had 2 rebounds.

Boston has a win-loss record of 28-12 on the season. On the offensive side of the court, the Celtics are hitting on 45.7% from the floor, which ranks them 18th in basketball. Boston has earned 4,699 points so far this season (117.5 per contest) and they pull in 45.2 rebounds per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 25.4 times per game (17th in the NBA) and they are giving up possession 11.9 times per game. The Celtics are responsible for committing 16.1 fouls per game and they shoot 78.8% from the free throw line.

The Celtics are ranked 6th in the league in PPG given up with 108.7. They are forcing 13.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 45.4% from the field (5th in the league). The Boston defense surrenders 35.9% on shots from behind the 3-point line (522 of 1,456) and their opposition makes 79.7% of their free throw shots. They give up 24.3 assists and 44.5 total rebounds per game, which is 4th and 18th in the NBA.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Orlando

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