Orlando at Charlotte

Orlando has won three in a row playing tough defense, allowing 93 and 87 points in two of the victories. The Magic come off an impressive win 114-87 over San Antonio on Friday limiting the Spurs to 33.7 percent shooting. For the season they are third in the NBA allowing 41.5% shooting, as well as tops in three-point shooting defense. Meanwhile, Charlotte is ninth in the NBA in points allowed, fourth in field goal shooting defensive allowing .419 shooting, and seventh at defending beyond the arc. Offense is the main problem, averaging 99.2 points per game (#24). New Hornets' center Dwight Howard is averaging 17.6 rebounds per game, but he is a terrible free-throw shooter. And the Hornets struggled to get into an offensive rhythm last time out, in part because Howard kept going to the line and shot 5-of-15 to fall to 35.6 percent from the stripe on the season. Charlotte is 18-8-1 UNDER the total against winning teams and this shapes up as a battle with far more defense than offense. Play UNDER the total in this one.