'Mozart of Chess' a big fave at World Championship

For a number of different reasons I expect this total to stay below the posted number once the final horn sounds. Orlando will certainly be motivated today to break a four-game slide and would love nothing more than to deal the Pacers a season worst-tying eighth straight loss. The Magic have looked better offensively of late, but remember as of January 9th, the team was ranked 28th in the league in scoring at just 93.6 points per contest. Orlando though has been pretty poor on the defensive side of the court all year and will definitely be ready to atone for a listless 113-106 setback at New York on Friday; note Orlando had in fact given up just 99.2 per game prior to its slump. The Magic also play with revenge here, the first time these teams met Indiana would pull away for the 98-83 victory on November 28th. The Pacers though have struggled with offensive consistency all season, they rank near the bottom of the league in points per game and shooting percentage and shot just 41 percent in Friday’s 89-87 loss at Miami.: “We were very displeased with how we played in the first half," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said afterwards. "I challenged them early on to get a little angry and we did. We started playing better. Clearly we have to start the game better." Note that this is a position in which both teams have shown a penchant to playing to the lower number in as the Pacers have seen the total dip below the posted number in two of three as a road favorite of three points or less, while Orlando has seen it fall UNDER the number in eight of 11 this year after three or more consecutive SU losses.

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