Nice NBA betting opportunity on Tuesday night’s card as the Orlando Magic host the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Hawks finally dismissed the pesky Milwaukee Bucks by winning game 7 at home, while Orlando has been biding their time after sweeping Charlotte in the first round. This game goes at 5:05 PM Pacific.

ORLANDO MAGIC VS. ATLANTA HAWKS:

Most of the media coverage on the Magic/Bobcats series was focused on Dwight Howard’s ‘ineffectiveness’.  Much of that was due to Charlotte’s ‘Hack-a Dwight’ strategy–they had a number of big stiffs with 6 fouls to give and they used them to frustrate Howard and take him out of his game.  Now contrast that with Atlanta’s problem in dealing with Milwaukee who had lost *their* strongest interior defender and low post scoring threat–Andrew Bogut–to injury late in the season.  Teams that play in a game 7 are typically a good ‘go against’ in Game 1 of their next series, and this appears to be a really bad matchup for Atlanta and a really good matchup for Orlando.

Look for Dwight Howard to rebound bigtime tonight against a team that doesn’t have the bumper crop of big bodies to foul him with, and that doesn’t have the strong interior presence with which to stop him.  Despite Howard’s struggles against the Bobcats, Orlando had no trouble advancing and have now won 10 straight games including 9 pointspread covers.  The Magic train keeps rolling tonight against an Atlanta team that could be ripe for a quick series dismissal.

PLAY ORLANDO -9 OVER ATLANTA