Clippers at Magic
The Los Angeles Clippers are battling through some inconsistency in the early going, both game to game and within each contest. The Clippers will try to solve some of those problems when they open a seven-game road trip at the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. Los Angeles has not won back-to-back games since the first two and is coming off a 105-89 loss at home to the Chicago Bulls in a game the Clippers led by 14 points in the first half.
The Magic have won three of four and five of eight since beginning the campaign with four consecutive setbacks and have a pair of players up front in Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris that can compete on the glass with Los Angeles’ pair of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Orlando switches things up and stretches the defense by putting Channing Frye in the frontcourt, and the team is leading the NBA in 3-point percentage at 41.6. “I love this style and I think it’s how basketball should be played,” Frye told the team’s official website. “For me, I’ve found success in playing this way, and it’s one of the reasons that I came here to Orlando.’’
TV: 7 p.m. ET, PRIME Ticket (Los Angeles), FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (5-4): Los Angeles is jacking up plenty of 3-pointers as well but is connecting at 34.2 percent and went 7-of-23 from beyond the arc in Monday’s loss to the Bulls. “I thought our trust was broken (against Chicago) offensively,” Griffin told reporters. “I thought we all tried to do it individually, and that’s the old way we played, where there’s no ball movement, ball’s in one spot.” The Clippers collapsed down the stretch of an 89-85 loss to the San Antonio Spurs last week and let it slip away in the third quarter against the Bulls, when they were outscored 31-14.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (5-7): Vucevic hauled in 14 rebounds to go along with 25 points in a win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday, and Orlando spread the floor around him, with the other four starters knocking down 11-of-19 from 3-point range. “As we continue to understand one another, the (3-point) shots come from where you expect them,’’ Magic coach Jacque Vaughn told reporters. “That’s big on a team where every guy has a role. You can anticipate where a guy will be and I think we’ll continue to get even better at (3-point shooting).”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The teams split two meetings last season, with the Magic earning a 98-90 home victory Nov. 6, 2013.
2. Los Angeles G J.J. Redick is 9-of-28 from the floor over the last three games.
3. Orlando F Kyle O’Quinn (ankle) has been out since the season opener and remains day-to-day.