Magic at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are floundering at nine games under .500 and their playoff streak of 22 straight seasons is in jeopardy. San Antonio is in need of a quick turnaround as it has dropped seven of its last nine games entering Saturday's home contest against the Orlando Magic.
The Spurs opened a three-game homestand with a 109-103 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday and star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan was highly dejected after the contest. "It’s beyond frustrating. Just losing, period, is frustrating. Extremely frustrating," DeRozan told reporters. "That’s all I can say about it, Nobody in this locker room enjoys losing. We go out there and fight. When the outcome is a loss, it’s tough, especially with the amount of games we have left and the opportunity to try to make a playoff push. Every single game is critical." Orlando is playing well with three straight wins and five in its last six games after posting a season high for points in Friday's 136-125 home victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Swingman Terrence Ross scored a season-best 33 points and power forward Aaron Gordon had 17 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists to record his first career triple-double.
TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS Florida, KENS
ABOUT THE MAGIC (27-32): Gordon has excelled for Orlando since the All-Star break and had three straight double-doubles before finally etching his name on the triple-double list for the first time in his six NBA seasons. "Being in a rhythm, making the right plays and playing a game that will help us win," Gordon said in a postgame television interview of the reason behind the triple-double. "The numbers just happened. I was just out there playing basketball." Ross made a season-best seven 3-pointers during his big outing and said there was nothing magical about the effort: "We were getting looks and playing through each other and we're making open shots."
ABOUT THE SPURS (24-33): Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (shoulder) will miss his second straight game with soreness that the club hopes will dissipate with rest. Aldridge ranks second on the team in scoring (18.8) and is the team's leading rebounder (7.5) so the absence of the seven-time All-Star typically diminishes San Antonio's production on the offensive end and the timing of his injury hurts a club that is struggling with its confidence. "It’s hard to go home knowing that we’re fighting, fighting to get in the playoffs, and games just slip up," point guard Dejounte Murray told reporters. "So it’s tough. It’s frustrating, but what can we do?”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. SG Evan Fournier scored 26 points as the Magic recorded a 111-109 home win over the Spurs on Nov. 15.
2. Orlando C Nikola Vucevic had 27 points and 10 rebounds against Minnesota for his fifth straight double-double.
3. DeRozan recorded 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds versus Dallas after averaging just 14.3 points over the previous three contests.