Point Spread: Magic Modest Favorite in Home Showdown With Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic — two of the more interesting teams in the NBA this year — get together on Monday night. Here's all the latest on the point spread and a great breakdown of both teams vs. the number.

Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs (4) shoots against Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) last season. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic are two of the most interesting teams in the NBA. The Pacers made a surprising run all the way to the Eastern Conference finals last year, and it's the Magic who want something similar this season.

The two teams get together on Monday night at the Kia Center. The game starts at 7 p.m. ET. Here's all the information on how to watch the game, with a good breakdown of both teams. CLICK HERE

The Magic are a 5.5-point favorite according to the FanDuel.com gambling website. The over under is 224.5.

This is the first of four meetings between the two teams this season, and they'll see a lot of each other early. They meet again next week in Indianapolis on Nov. 6 and then play in Orlando on Nov. 13. The final meeting is in Indianapolis on April 11, the final road trip of the regular season.

They played three times last year, and the road team won all three games. Here's how the series went

Magic vs. Pacers last year

• Nov. 19, 2023 in Indianapolis: The Magic beat the Pacers 128-116 on the road as a 4.5-point underdog and covered. The game (244) went over the 236.5 total. Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 24 points.

• Dec. 23, 2023 in Indianapolis: The Magic beat the Pacers 117-110 on the road as a 2.5-point underdog and covered. The game (227) went under the 244.5 total. Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 34 points, and Franz Wagner had 24.

• March 10 2024 in Orlando: The Magic lost to the Pacers 111-97 at home as a 1.6-point favorite and did not cover. Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 19 points.

Magic by the numbers

• Magic overall record: 2-1
  Magic overall vs. spread: 2-1

• Magic home record: 1-0
  Magic home vs. spread: 1-0

• Magic road record: 1-1
  Magic road vs spread: 1-1

• Magic record as favorite: 1-0
  Magic vs. spread as favorite: 1-0

• Magic record as underdog: 1-1
  Magic vs. spread as underdog: 1-1

• Magic over total: 3
  Magic under total: 0

Magic results vs. spread this season

Here's what Orlando has done this season, straight up and against the spread:

• Oct. 23 (Wednesday) — Beat the Miami Heat 116-97 on the road as a 2-point underdog (covered). The score (213) went over the 208 over/under total. To read the game story, CLICK HERE

• Oct. 25 (Friday) — Beat the Brooklyn Nets 116-101 at home as an 11.5-point favorite (covered). The score (217) went over the 215.5 over/under total. To read the game story, CLICK HERE

• Oct. 26 (Saturday) — Lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 124-111 on the road as a 1.5-point underdog (did not cover). The score (235) went over the 221.5 over/under total. To read the game story, CLICK HERE

The Pacers are 1-2 so far this season, beating Detroit but losing to the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers. They are 1-2 against the spread.

BETTING ANGLES: The Magic have gone over the total in every game this season, and the Pacers don't play a lot of defense. I'm surprised this total isn't higher.

Paolo Banchero has had a lot of big games against the Pacers. They don't double a lot, so I can see him going over the 24.5-point total. Another edge to that is forward Franz Wagner isn't feeling well. He is playing, but it was a game-time decision. Minutes will certainly be an issue.

The Pacers haven't looked great so far, but Monday could be different.