Tonight the Magic go back-to-back facing the Lakers in Los Angeles. Orlando are coming off a strong win over the Clippers last night.
- Tip time is 1:30am for U.K. fans (8:30pm in Orlando)
- To watch here in the U.K. you will need an active NBA League Pass subscription.
The Stats
The Orlando Magic
- Orlando have a 29-42 record, remaining 13th in the Eastern Conference.
- The Magic have won 4 of the last 10 games.
- On the season Orlando score 111.6 points per game (26th of 30) and concede 114.5 points per game (17th of 30).
- Last night Orlando took an impressive road win over the LA Clippers by 113-108, scoring on 7 of their final 8 possessions. Markelle Fultz notched a career-best 28 points, to go with 6 rebounds, 4 assists and a valuable 4 steals. Wendell Carter Jr recorded his 19th double-double of the season, stuffing the boxscore with 27 points (including hitting 4-of-8 from deep), 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Franz Wagner scored 20, whilst Cole Anthony came off the bench to record 18 points.
The Los Angeles Lakers
- The Lakers are trying to be involved in the play-in game. A 34-37 record puts them 11th in the Western Conference, having played and lost 1 game more than the 10th placed Utah Jazz.
- Coach Darvin Lam sees his team have ing lost 2 games straight and 5 of their last 10 played.
- The Lakers score freely, 116.5 points per game (5th of 30) and concede 117 (21st of 30).
- Last time out the Purple and Gold took a close loss at home 111-110 to the Dallas Mavericks. That defeat to a buzzer beating three saw many Lakers fans blaming Anthony Davis. That was despite AD having 26 points and 10 rebounds, without which they would have been well beaten long before.
Squad And Injury News
- For Orlando Jonathan Isaac (hamstring) is out for the season.
- The Magic will assess Jalen Suggs who missed the game last night with a concussion. He is likely to be absent again tonight.
- LeBron James (foot) and Mo Bamba (ankle) are both out for the Lakers.
- Anthony Davis (foot) is listed as day-to-day but probable for LA.
The Big Picture
- The Magic complete this four-game trip out West tonight. L.A. won the first meeting this season at Amway Center by 129-110 in December. 28 points from LeBron James and a triple-double from the now moved Russell Westbrook (15 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists). Markelle Fultz led Orlando with 16 points.
- The head-to-head of 67 regular season games played sees the Magic trailing the Lakers by 23-44. The Los Angeles side have won the last 5 straight.
- Expect pace, the Lakers play fast. Orlando will need to guard inside the arc effectively. The Lakers’ offence thrives here, making the second most two-pointers in the league. They also attempt the most free throws per game, making on average 20.4 of the 26.2 attempts per game.
- On defence the Lakers dominate the boards and do not foul, being second best in the NBA for both categories. They therefore give up third least free throws per game to opponents. They allow teams to shoot three-pointers heavily but contest well. They are highly susceptible to scoring inside the arc.
- With leading scorer LeBron (29.5 ppg) out, the scoring responsibilities will fall to Anthony Davis if fit. A rebound threat, averaging a very impressive 26.1 points per game, he is also top 20 in block categories. Davis is highly capable of leading the team.
- Paolo Banchero continues to lead the Magic scorers with 20 points per game, followed by Franz Wagner (18.7). After those two comes Wendell Carter Jr (15.6), Markelle Fultz (14.1) and Cole Anthony (12.5) who are all seeing improvement in their scoring records.
Two To Watch As The Magic Go Back-To-Back Facing The Lakers
- As the Magic go back-to-back facing the Lakers in Los Angeles I was extremely close to featuring Wendell Carter Jr here for Orlando. However I decided to take a look at the bench impact for both teams.
- For the Magic Cole Anthony is coming from the bench and providing at a prolific rate again. Over the past 6 games Cole has weighed in with on average 15.67 points per game. With rebounds, assists and a tenacity to be involved his energy from the bench has helped keep the team effective whilst others rest.
- For the Lakers over the past 2 weeks and 6 games back up guard Austin Reeves has been a key player. Averaging 17 points per game (behind only Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell) he has given out 5 assists per game also
