Minnesota Timberwolves vs Orlando Magic Odds, Predictions & Player Props

• The West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves face the shorthanded Orlando Magic on Tuesday night
• The Magic are 2-0 so far without second-leading scorer Franz Wagner
• See the Timberwolves vs Magic odds, spread, picks, and predictions for Jan. 9

With a long list of significant contributors on their injury report, the Orlando Magic (21-15, 13-4 home, 25-11 ATS) welcome the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves (25-10, 11-8 away, 16-17-2 ATS) to the Kia Center at 7:10 pm ET tonight.

Oddsmakers give healthier Minnesota a significant advantage in the T-Wolves vs Magic odds, listing the visitors as 5.5-point road favorites.

Minnesota Timberwolves vs Orlando Magic Odds

Orlando is a +170 moneyline underdog to improve to 14-4 at home and extend their current win streak to three. The total is at just 216.5, which is 11 points lower than any of the other four games in Tuesday’s NBA odds.

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The main piece that will be missing for Orlando in Tuesday’s NBA lineups is small forward Franz Wagner, who sits second on the team in scoring (20.9 PPG) and third in assists (3.9 APG). The Magic will also be without Wendell Carter Jr (8.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG), Gary Harris (7.1 PPG), and Joe Ingles (4.9 PPG, 3.4 APG), who will be missed more on the defensive end.

Minnesota is almost entirely healthy. The only player listed on the T-Wolves’ injury report is rookie Jaylen Clark, who hasn’t played a minute this season.

Orlando Responds to Adversity

Despite missing multiple rotation players – including Franz Wagner – each of the past two games, the Magic picked up impressive wins over the Denver Nuggets (122-120 away) and Atlanta Hawks (117-110 OT home). Bachero had 32 points and 35 points, respectively, in the wins, both team highs, while second-year pro Caleb Houston came up huge against the Hawks with a career high 25, just the second time the Michigan product has scored 20-plus points in a game.

The credit for the Atlanta win mostly goes to the Orlando defense, though. The Hawks came average 122.2 points per game, third in the NBA, but were limited to just 105 in regulation and another five in OT.

Orlando now sits fourth in the league in Defensive Rating (111.1), an incredible improvement for a group that finished last season 18th (113.7). While they have struggled offensively (21st in Offensive Rating at 113.2), they are 12th overall in Net Rating (+2.1), ahead of teams like Cleveland and Miami.

Timberwolves Drop Three of Four

While Minnesota remains atop the Western Conference, half a game up on the Nuggets and one clear of the Thunder, their play has slipped of late. They fell 115-108 at Dallas on Sunday, their third setback in their past four games, a stretch which also includes a 117-106 home loss to New Orleans anda  112-106 loss at New York.

Despite the mediocre recent results, leading scorer Anthony Edwards (26.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.0 APG) has been on fire of late. Edwards has scored 30-plus in six of his past eight and is averaging 33 PPG in that span.

Though they currently own the #1 seed in the West portion of the NBA playoff bracket, oddsmakers aren’t terribly high on Minnesota. They are just the fourth-favorite in the NBA Western Conference odds at +850, behind Denver (+201), Phoenix (+556), and the LA Clippers (+575). That aligns with the advanced metrics; the T-Wolves only have the fourth-best point differential (+5.2) and Net Rating (+5.1) in the West.

MIN vs ORL Player Props

Player props from the DraftKings app.  

The highest point total on Tuesday belongs to Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards at 30.5. Orlando’s Paolo Banchero is listed at 28.5, which is well above his season average of 23.1 PPG as oddsmakers expect his to pick up the scoring slack vacated by Franz Wagner.

Timberwolves vs Magic Prediction

The +170 moneyline price on Orlando is too long. The Magic have been an excellent home team all season and have shown during the past two games that they are fully capable of maintaining that level of play without Franz Wager. Coupled with the fact that Minnesota is mired in a bit of a slump, and is just 11-8 on the road this season, I will gladly take the home team to win straight up at a generous +170.

T-Wolves vs Magic pick: Orlando moneyline (+170)

Sascha Paruk’s 2023-24 NBA betting record:

• 10-8-2 ATS (+1.41 units)
• 9-10 ML (-2.07 units)
• 5-11 player props (-6.60 units)
• 0-1 same-game parlay (-2.00 units)

All wagers one unit unless expressly stated otherwise.