Knicks at Magic
A night after falling short of its first four-game winning streak of the
season, Orlando wraps up its home schedule with a visit from New York
on Saturday. The Magic had matched their best run with three consecutive
wins before a late 3-pointer by Toronto led to a 101-99 setback Friday, dropping the squad to 13-27 at home.
Victor Oladipo had a team-high 19 points but missed a jumper before the buzzer as Orlando fell to 15-34 against the Eastern Conference. The Knicks fell 99-91 to Milwaukee on Friday to drop to 1-1 on their current three-game homestand. The setback gave New York 64 losses, two more than Minnesota had entering the evening as the two conference doormats play out the string with the worst record in the NBA on the line. Orlando has taken two of the first three meetings, including an 89-83 home win in the previous meeting Feb. 11.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE KNICKS (15-64): Langston Galloway continued his solid stretch run with 20 points in the loss to Milwaukee. Andrea Bargnani, the Knicks' leading scorer since Carmelo Anthony was lost for the season, sat due to an illness as his team was held under 100 points for the 11th time in 12 games. Forward Cleanthony Early missed his third straight game with a sprained ankle but appears to be close to a return.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (25-54): Guard Evan Fournier has been solid since his return from a long layoff due to a hip injury. The third-year pro had 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting and six rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench against Toronto after tallying 11 points in his comeback Wednesday against Chicago. Fournier scored a career-high 28 points at New York on Nov. 12.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Since scoring a career-high 21 points at Washington on April 3, Knicks G Ricky Ledo is averaging 4.3 points on 6-of-19 shooting over a three-game span.
2. Magic C Nikola Vucevic is averaging 27.3 points and 16.3 rebounds in the three games against New York this season.
3. Galloway, whose season scoring average is 11.5, has produced at least 11 points in eight of his last nine games.