No NBA team has ever come back in a seven-game series after trailing three games to none so the Orlando Magic are fighting history in basketball odds as they face the Boston Celtics in Game 5 on Wednesday. What is somewhat interesting though in NBA odds is that rarely has the team with the better regular season record ever been down 0-3 before.
Basketball odds before this series began actually favored Orlando. That has been forgotten with Boston’s dominance but the Magic were the far better team in the regular season. They were expected to dominate Boston and play in the NBA Finals. Could Orlando get back to playing winning basketball? They will need to win on Wednesday but they are favored in basketball odds to do just that. They are four-point favorites at home on Wednesday.
The Magic won vs. the basketball odds on Monday night in Boston in large part because Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson played well. Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis didn’t show up again so it is somewhat surprising they were able to win a game without much from either of those two players. Lewis averaged 18 points per game during the regular season against Boston but he has been terrible in the playoffs.
Boston was great in taking three games to none lead and they had their chances to win Game 4. Rajon Rondo didn’t play very well though and Boston missed a lot of opportunities. Orlando didn’t play very well but Howard was good and Nelson hit big shots. The longer this series goes the more Boston could be in trouble in basketball odds. The Celtics are not a young team. Their age started to show in Game 4. It could show up against on Wednesday night at Orlando in NBA odds.
History is still against Orlando. There have been 94 times in NBA history where a team has gone up 3-0 in a seven-game series. 57 times the series ended in a sweep. The Magic just barely avoided that fate. Can they now make history and become the first team ever to win four straight after losing the first three games? It seems unlikely but Orlando plays at home on Wednesday and basketball odds favor them to win.