Nelly’s expects to start our basketball season in early November. We’ve won five straight seasons in college basketball including a huge March Madness last season going 30-14 in March. We have hit 62% or better in four of our last five NBA seasons.
Free Pick Wednesday: #539 Orlando Magic +8.5 over Cleveland Cavaliers 6:10 PM CT
The Magic are still looking for their first win of the season but this was a promising team in the preseason going 4-1 and only one defeat has come by more than 10 points. That was the last game at New York on Monday but it was a more competitive game than the final score that had a 13-point final margin. The Magic lost by six hosting Boston in the game prior to that and the Magic beat the Cavaliers in the preseason finale. #1 draft pick Paolo Banchero has lived up to the billing so far with strong numbers, even if his shooting rates are marginal at this point. The Magic played one game without Cole Anthony while the team has had to adjust to a handful of injuries with Jalen Suggs injured just two games into the season while a few expected contributors have not suited up yet. Cleveland is 2-1 but they had a misleading win on Tuesday, winning by 10 in an overtime game vs. Washington for the home opener. This is a team in a significant transition with the addition of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland has missed the past two games. A huge game with Boston is up next on Friday as this is a less than ideal spot on the schedule and a price that may be inflated given that the Cavaliers were priced similarly last March hosting Orlando and the Magic appear to have more potential this season. The Magic won an April home meeting between these teams and has covered in eight of the past 10 meetings in this series.