On Friday, April 17, the Orlando Magic host the Charlotte Hornets in a game that will decide who gets to face the top-seeded Detroit Pistons in the opening round of the 2025-26 NBA Playoffs. The Magic are coming off a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 7-8 Play-In Tournament matchup, while the Hornets earned a victory over the Miami Heat in a wild 9-10 matchup. These two teams now clash in a massive game, and they do so while moving in opposite directions.

Keep reading for Magic vs. Hornets odds and predictions, and make sure you come back to VSiN throughout the course of the NBA Playoffs. We’ll have previews of every single series and daily best bets/player props. We’ll also have betting trends and insights from our analytics guru Steve Makinen. Of course, we’ll also be talking about all of this on our live programming too! It’s a great time to be a VSiN subscriber, so make sure you check out our subscription options.

How To Watch Hornets vs. Magic

Where: Kia Center in Orlando, Florida

When: 7:30 pm ET on Friday, April 17

Channel: Prime Video

Hornets vs. Magic Odds

(Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook and accurate as of Wednesday, April 15 at 11:30 pm ET)

Moneyline: Hornets -175, Magic +145

Spread: Hornets -3.5 (-112), Magic +3.5 (-108)

Total: Over 218.5 (-108), Under 218.5 (-112)

Hornets vs. Magic Prediction

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Immediately after Philadelphia’s win over Orlando in Wednesday’s 7-8 game, I threw in Charlotte at -152 in the Friday night battle for the eighth seed. I thought the Magic would have a real shot at beating the 76ers on Wednesday, but it felt like Paolo Banchero made a mistake every single time his teammates fought to bring Orlando back in it. Banchero has now played back-to-back games in which he has missed at least 15 shots, turned the ball over at least six times, and shot below 45% when looking at True Shooting Percentage. He has been abysmal for this team offensively, which is brutal considering he’s also the weakest link on the roster defensively. And overall, with Banchero struggling like this, I can’t quite see the Magic finding a way to keep the Hornets out of the dance.

From the All-Star break to the end of the regular season, the Hornets went 18-9 with a net rating of +11.1. They were also second in the NBA in raw offensive rating (121.8) and seventh in raw defensive rating (110.6) in that span. Meanwhile, the Magic were just 17-12 with a net rating of +2.4 in that same span, ranking 15th in raw offensive rating (115.3) and 12th in raw defensive rating (112.9). Charlotte was just markedly better on both ends of the floor.

Realistically, the fact that the Magic have slipped defensively is enough to buy the Hornets here. Orlando being outside of the top 10 in defense this season is unacceptable considering how bad the team is offensively, and you can’t afford to be anything but great defensively when taking on Charlotte. This Hornets team has way too much firepower, with LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, and Coby White all being capable of swinging games with their shot-making ability. If Orlando isn’t locked in and disciplined from the jump, those four will absolutely bury the Magic with triples. Charlotte made more threes per game than any team in the NBA after the All-Star break (18.3).

The Hornets also have way more momentum, and overall juice, than the Magic. This Charlotte team has been one of the best teams in basketball for months now, and the team just won its first Play-In Tournament game. The Hornets are going to head to the floor believing that they’re one game away from competing in a series with the Pistons that is actually winnable. I’m not sure the same feeling is permeating for the other side. The Magic have just been coasting by all year, they have some personalities clashing in the locker room, and they’re coming off a deflating loss in Philadelphia. Are we sure Orlando isn’t going to just roll over here?

Charlotte was also dominant in this head-to-head series once the team flushed a poor start to the year. After losing 123-107 to the Magic on October 30, the Hornets won three games in a row in this series. They also won those games by an average of 20.3 points per game, so the games weren’t even competitive.

The Hornets also happen to be 14-5 straight-up when playing as road favorites under Charles Lee, and they’re facing a Magic team that is 37-65 SU as home underdogs under Jamahl Mosley. Speaking of Mosley, it seems as though his voice isn’t resonating with Orlando’s players anymore.

Best Bet: Hornets ML (-152 – 1.5 units)

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