Adam Williams presents his prediction for the NBA match.
The first Eastern Conference play-in clash features the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks. The winner will advance directly to the first round of the playoffs to face the Boston Celtics, while the loser will have one final chance to secure a postseason spot.
Orlando Magic
In their final two regular-season games, head coach Jamahl Mosley chose to rest key scorers Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. The duo has been central to the team's offensive production, combining for an average of 50.8 points over their last ten games. Late in the season, Anthony Black emerged as an unexpected offensive asset. Though his season average stands at 9.4 points per game, he raised that to 11.5 across his last ten outings, and notably scored 20 points in their most recent encounter with the Atlanta Hawks.
Atlanta Hawks
Head coach Quin Snyder seems to have embraced the team’s defensive limitations, as they finished the regular season ranked 27th in points conceded per game (119.3). Instead, the Hawks have leaned fully into an offence-first approach, which has produced results. They finished fifth in the league in scoring with an average of 118.2 points per game and a 47.2% shooting rate. Trae Young once again led by example, averaging 24.2 points and 11.6 assists per game in another standout season.
Orlando Magic vs Atlanta Hawks Prediction
These sides have faced each other four times in the past two months, including two meetings just last week. Each of those games saw at least 218 total points scored. With this being a high-stakes, single-elimination encounter, neither team is expected to deviate from their established game plans. We're backing Total Over.
