Teams always have to pay a price to win in the playoffs, but the Orlando Magic may have to pay a price for not even playing.
Orlando will have been idle for eight days when it opens its Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday against the division-rival Atlanta Hawks (8:05 pm ET, TNT). A long break between playoff series can often be more of a curse than a blessing.
But at least the Magic finally have a second-round opponent in the NBA Playoffs after sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats, closing out their East quarterfinal April 26.
Basketball Betting at betED.com has Orlando as a big -600 moneyline, 9-point favorite and the over/under total at 192 in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.
In spite of constant foul trouble throughout the short series for All-Star center Dwight Howard, which limited him to an average of 9.8 points and 9.3 rebounds, the Magic managed the first sweep in a best-of- seven series in Orlando franchise history.
The Hawks did not have as easy a time in their first-round series, as it took them seven games to dispatch of the Milwaukee Bucks. Atlanta, in fact, had to come back from a 3-2 series deficit, winning Game 6 and 7 to take the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal 4-3.
Orlando won the season series 3-1 SU and ATS, its only loss coming in the last meeting between the teams on March 24, when the Hawks edged the Magic 86-84 as a 1-point home favorite.
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