Mavericks at Magic
The Orlando Magic are a difficult team to beat at home and look to keep that going when the Dallas Mavericks visit on Saturday. Dallas has won seven straight in Orlando, but the Magic are off to a 4-1 start at home with Arron Afflalo leading the way while averaging 23.2 in his own building. Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 28 points to lead the Mavericks in their 110-104 loss at Miami on Friday, their fourth defeat in five games on the road.
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said his team’s effort was good in Miami, but its 24 turnovers proved to be too much to overcome. “We go out and compete every night at a high level and get our turnovers down, we can beat anybody in this league,” Dallas leading scorer Monta Ellis said after the loss to Miami. The Magic have been competitive each game and rallied from 19 points down to beat Milwaukee 94-91 on Wednesday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (5-4): Ellis continued his solid production with 20 points against Miami and veteran Vince Carter, a former Orlando standout, scored 21 off the bench to match his season high. Veteran forward Shawn Marion has posted eight points in each the last two games after averaging 14.6 over the previous five for the Mavericks. Point guard Jose Calderon became the 100th player in NBA history to reach 4,000 assists Friday and is 24-of-44 from 3-point range the last seven contests.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (4-5): There has been improvement in a lot of areas, but ballhandling is something coach Jacque Vaughn said needs to be addressed with the Magic averaging 17.7 turnovers – near the bottom of the league. “We’re rushing a little bit too much, trying to make the home-run play,” Orlando’s rookie guard Victor Oladipo told the Orlando Sentinel. “All our mistakes are stuff we can fix.” Center Nikola Vucevic is fifth in the NBA in rebounding (11.8) through Thursday and is averaging 15.8 points.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Magic have recorded at least 50 rebounds in a game four times and average 46.2, which puts them fourth in the league.
2. The Mavericks had 11 steals against Miami and average 10 on the season - second in the league.
3. Nowitzki is third in the league in most seasons with his current team (16) and Orlando G Jameer Nelson is eighth with 10.