Pelicans vs. Magic prediction, odds, pick – 11/8/2024

Today at 11:14 AM

The Orlando Magic host the New Orleans Pelicans for an interleague matchup on Friday night. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series with a Pelicans-Magic prediction and pick.

The Pelicans have lost three straight games and have fallen to 3-6 on the season. Losing Dejounte Murray hurts but this team is more than capable of bouncing back and being one of the top teams in the Western Conference. The main issue has always been health and that continues this season. Brandon Ingram has played all nine games but Zion Williamson has missed three and CJ McCollum has missed five. They have an opportunity to end the losing streak with a win in Orlando.

The Magic have high hopes this season. After giving the Cleveland Cavaliers a run for their money last year in the playoffs, the Magic aim to win a playoff series this year and compete for the NBA Finals. The latter may take a few more seasons to accomplish, but Paolo Banchero is the real deal. He will miss anywhere from 3-5 more weeks as he deals with a torn right oblique. He was off to a career start as well, and now the Magic will need to learn to win without him. If they can remain around .500 until he returns that would benefit them later in the season. Orlando has lost five straight games and desperately needs a win.

Here are the Pelicans-Magic NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

NBA Odds: Pelicans-Magic NBA Odds

New Orleans Pelicans: +6 (-110)

Moneyline: +198

Orlando Magic: -6 (-110)

Moneyline: -240

Over: 213 (-110)

Under: 213 (-110)

How To Watch Pelicans vs. Magic

Time: 7:00 ET/4:00 PT

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida, Bally Sports New Orleans

Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)

Why the Pelicans Could Cover the Spread/Win

The Pelicans will continue without Murray, McCollum, and Herbert Jones as they all will miss a few more weeks of action, if not more. That is a brutal set of injuries for three crucial players on this team. Murray has only played in the one game where he broke his hand, so the team has hardly seen what he is capable of doing outside of practice. McCollum is an elite offensive threat while Jones is one of the top defenders in the game. New Orleans must rely on Williamson and Ingram to remain healthy and carry the load.

Ingram is averaging 24.1 points per game and is doing it at a high rate, shooting just under 50% from the floor. The 27-year-old is well into the prime of his career and should be counted on late in games with the ball in his hands. The issue over the years is it hasn’t mattered how well Ingram has played as the team still found ways to lose. They need their team to be fully healthy and it has always started with Zion since he was drafted. They desperately need Zion to play almost all the games this season. When he is playing and in his zone, there is nobody that can stop him. He scored a combined 63 points in his last two games and shot 60% from the floor.

However, Zion exited the last game against the Cavaliers. His status for Friday night is still up in the air.

Why the Magic Could Cover the Spread/Win

Outside of Banchero, Wendall Carter Jr. will be out for this game. Orlando will need Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony, and the Wagner brothers to lead the way.

Suggs is going to play the majority of the game and will have the ball in his hands more than anyone. The team inked him to a new deal before the season started as they have high expectations for him. Over the last five games, which have resulted in losses, Suggs has been shooting the ball well. He shot over 43% in four of those games but needs to be a great facilitator as well. He leads the team averaging 4.6 assists per game but if that number goes up then the team can only benefit from it.

Anthony Black and rookie Tristan da Silva have been thrown into the mix as young players. Black is just 20 years old and is second on the team is assists per game at 4.1 He comes off the bench with Cole Anthony in the backcourt but has been playing more minutes. Cole Anthony is one of the top young guards in the NBA but he is off to a rough start this season. He is only making 25% of his shots and is averaging only 2.7 points per game. I expect those numbers to increase.

Katavious Caldwell-Pope is the starter alongside Suggs and even though he doesn’t scare anyone offensively, he still remains valuable to the team.

Final Pelicans-Magic Prediction & Pick

It’s really an all-hands-on-deck game for both teams. Not having your stars in the game sucks but both of these teams will make the playoffs. With Zion, McCollum, Jones, and Murray out for the Pelicans, I like the Magic to end their 5-game skid with a win at home.

Final Pelicans-Magic Prediction & Pick: Magic -6 (-110)

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