Los Angeles Lakers vs Orlando Magic Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 19/03/2023, 10:57  by Joseph King | Modified on 19/03/2023 at 10:57 in NBA Predictions

The LA Lakers and the Orlando Magic face off at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles for this Sunday evening matchup in the NBA. The Lakers are running out of time as the end of the season grows ever closer with the team sitting outside of the current playoff picture. The 2020 champions find themselves in 11th-place in the Western Conference with a record of 34 wins and 37 losses. However, it remains a tight race at the bottom of the West playoff seeding as the Lakers currently trail eighth-place Minnesota by just a half game while also trailing seventh-place Golden State by 1.5 games. Los Angeles is likely looking at the play-in tournament as its best chance for making it into the postseason. A win over Orlando tonight could boost the Lakers to 10th or potentially even ninth-place, which would qualify them for the NBA’s newly formed playoff qualification route. LA will be hoping to recover after a heartbreaking 111-110 loss on Friday which saw them lose in the final moments to a Maxi Kleber three-pointer.

Orlando comes into this matchup sitting towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. The Magic are 13th in the conference with a record of 29 wins and 42 losses and would need a significant turnaround in the final few games if they are to even have a shot at qualifying for the play-in tournament. Orlando is currently 4.5 games behind 10th-place Chicago and for all practical purposes, are just playing for experience and pride at this stage. The Magic have been in rebuild mode for the past three seasons but have at least been able to show some progress this year. Orlando plays the second of a Los Angeles road back-to-back here but should be encouraged considering how their previous game went. The visitors ran out 113-108 away winners over the Clippers, led by the 28 points of former first pick Markelle Fultz.