Jazz vs. Magic prediction and odds for Thursday, March 9 (How to bet total)

The Orlando Magic host the Utah Jazz on Thursday night in what is a battle of two struggling teams late in the season.

The Jazz, who have spent most of the 2022-23 campaign in the play-in tournament field in the Western Conference, have lost four straight games to fall to No. 13 in the conference.

Now, the team is a road underdog, a spot it has thrived in (15-9-1 against the spread) against a Magic team that has dropped two straight .

The Magic won’t have Wendell Carter Jr. in this game, while the Jazz are down Collin Sexton. Jordan Clarkson and Walker Kessler are both listed as questionable for Utah.

The Jazz aren’t completely out of the play-in conversation in the West, but they need to string together some wins soon. Here’s a look at the odds for this game:

Jazz vs. Magic odds, spread and total

Jazz vs. Magic prediction and pick

The Magic have struggled as home favorites this season (2-6 ATS), but I think there is more value on the total in this game given how these teams have played recently.

Utah has hung its hat on the offensive end all season, but over its last 10 games the team ranks 23rd in the league in offensive rating. The Magic are actually worse over that stretch, ranking 25th in offensive rating.

While Utah is playing at the No. 2 pace in those 10 games, the team has also been matched up with some high-powered offenses, something that the Magic are not this season.

Orlando and Utah have also both been better on the defensive end lately, ranking 14th (Utah) and 11th (Orlando) and defensive rating over this 10-game stretch.

This total is up in the 230s, but Orlando has played nine of its last 13 games UNDER this number. That’s where I’ll go in tonight’s game as well.

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.