Magic at Bulls
Two teams in need of a victory meet when the road-weary Orlando Magic visit the Chicago Bulls on Monday. The Magic have lost eight of their last nine and will play road games on back-to-back nights for the third time this month after losing 101-98 at Oklahoma City on Sunday. Chicago has lost 10 of its last 13 games, including a 99-77 loss at home to Toronto on Saturday, as it attempts to find answers following the loss of All-Star Derrick Rose to another knee injury.
the Bulls have averaged 79 points in five games since beating the two-time defending champion Miami Heat by 14 on Dec. 5, “No excuses,” Chicago center Joakim Noah told reporters after the Toronto loss. “I know that we’re capable of a lot better than that. We can’t get frustrated. Our effort has to be a lot better to play winning basketball. But it’s going to come.” Orlando is 2-10 on the road.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Orlando), WGN (Chicago)
ABOUT THE MAGIC (7-17): Orlando showed it can play with some of the best teams in the league for stretches, but is struggling to put together a solid 48-minute performance. The Magic let a double-digit lead get away against Cleveland on Friday while leading scorer Arron Afflalo poured in 25 as the Magic threatened the Thunder on Sunday. Rookie Victor Oladipo continues to show progress, scoring 14 per game, and 7-0 center Nikola Vucevic is averaging 14.7 rebounds in three outings since returning from an ankle injury.
ABOUT THE BULLS (9-13): The injury saga continues as leading scorer Luol Deng (19.3) returned from missing four games with an Achilles injury to record 17 points against Toronto and point guard Kirk Hinrich was held out with a stiff back. Marquis Teague got the start in his spot Saturday and Hinrich is questionable for Monday’s contest. Mike Dunleavy has stepped up over the last five games, averaging 17.2 points and delivering the game-winning 3-pointer against Milwaukee after scoring 8.2 per game in November.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Chicago has won the last five meetings and nine of the last 10 against the Magic.
2. Orlando F Maurice Harkless scored seven points in 23 minutes Sunday after going scoreless in 17 minutes over the previous three games.
3. Despite their struggles, the Bulls are still third in the league in average points against (92.8) and fourth in opposing field goal percentage (42.5).