Wizards at Magic
The Orlando Magic ended a grueling six-game road trip with two gutty victories and prepare to meet the top three teams in the Eastern Conference over the next four contests. Orlando faces the first of those major tests when the red-hot Washington Wizards pay a visit on Wednesday. Washington has won five of its last six overall and owns six consecutive victories against the Magic, including two this season.
The Magic, who play a home-and-home with Atlanta before facing Toronto over the next three games, suffered a rough one-point loss at Golden State on their trip and were crushed by the Clippers but rebounded with wins at Utah and Sacramento to finish the trek 3-3 without injured center Nikola Vucevic for the final four. Tobias Harris averaged 20.6 points over the last five games and needs another big effort against point guard John Wall and an offensively-gifted Wizards squad. Wall is averaging 17.4 points and 14.4 assists in five December contests as Washington has scored 112.6.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Washington, FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (14-6): Wall recorded a career-best 17 assists in the 133-132 double-overtime victory over Boston on Monday at home, where the Wizards are 10-2. Wall has plenty of strong passing options with sharp-shooting guard Bradley Beal (14.2 points), inside force Marcin Gortat (13.9 points, nine rebounds) and veteran Paul Pierce (13.5 points), who scored a season-high 28 on Monday. Nene, a forward averaging 10 points, was a late scratch with a sore knee Monday and is considered day-to-day.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (9-14): Vucevic, who led the league with 13 double-doubles through Monday, has missed the last four games with a back injury and is reportedly showing progress. The Magic played well in three of the contests without their 7-0 center as his backup Kyle O’Quinn averaged 13.3 points and drained 22-of-31 shots from the field in the last four games. Harris has taken over the team lead in scoring (18.9), edging Vucevic (18.6), while Victor Oladipo (14.8) has averaged 18.5 over the last four games.
BUZZER-BEATERS
1. Wall is the first guard in Washington franchise history to post 12 double-doubles in the first 20 games of a season.
2. Orlando SG Evan Fournier is averaging 14.5 points and has made at least one 3-pointer in 28 straight games, the longest active streak in the league.
3. Washington SF Rasual Butter is averaging 15.7 points over the last seven while playing at least 23 minutes in each off the bench.