Coming off of a powerful – but losing – playoff effort last year against the Bulls, the Indiana Pacers came roaring back to start the 2011-2012 year. The team is going through its greatest early record in the prior 8 years, but are still troubled against the more skillful squads in the league. While they’re 11-4 thus far, simply 4 of those victories are against squads with records above .500.

Sportsbook

With the Magic coming to visit on Tuesday, January 24, the Pacers will have a greater task on their hands, and they will need the home court advantage tonight. Indiana is undefeated at home this year and will look to increase their record to 6-0. If they are able to grab a victory, it will be the first time the team has opened up a year with 6 straight home victories since the 2002-2003 year.

College football betting

However the Orlando Magic are a fearsome adversary who are 11-5 on the year thus far. And the recent past is most on Orlando’s side. The Orlando Magic have defeated the Pacers in Indiana in all the prior three matchups between the 2. Actually, Orlando has won these competitions on the road in Indianapolis by around 13 points. The newest match between the 2 was January 26, 2011.

The Pacers will also need to find a method to cope with Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard. Howard has headed the team to an 11-3 record over Indiana, and he has put up double-doubles in all of these games. Even with the challenges ahead for the Pacers, the sports book shows them as the -3 favorites to eliminate the Orlando Magic. The total is set at 182.5.

Both squads come into this match with a 7-3 record over their last 10 games. The Pacers have a 5-0 home record thus far, while the Orlando Magic are 5-3 on the road. Watch for Orlando to make a astoundingly powerful showing after their catastrophic 87-56 loss to the Celtics a few days ago.