Raptors at Magic
The Toronto Raptors are off to the best start in franchise history and will try to make it six straight wins to begin the campaign when they visit the Orlando Magic on Friday. The Raptors are the only undefeated team left in the Eastern Conference and began their road trip with impressive wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Toronto is aware of the franchise history it is making early in the campaign but clearly has bigger goals in mind after being swept out of the first round of the playoffs last spring. “Game 5, nothing special,” point guard Kyle Lowry told reporters after squeezing out a 103-98 win over the Thunder on Wednesday. “We’ve got to continue to grow. We have a lot more games to go, 77 more. All we can do is take his victory and grow from it.” The Magic are trying to grow as well but are struggling to execute at the end of games. Orlando is 1-4 but two of the losses have been in overtime and the other two came by a total of six points.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One (Toronto), FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (5-0): Toronto outscored Oklahoma City 12-1 in the final 2 1/2 minutes to pull out the win on Wednesday, and coach Dwane Casey is trying to make sure his players stay focused on the road ahead. “It’s early. It’s a marathon not a sprint,” Casey told reporters. “We need to maintain it. I told the guys to get off their feet. No running around shopping in Orlando. We’re on a business trip.” The Raptors could use the rest after crashing through the paint to earn a total of 65 free-throw attempts in the last two games.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (1-4): Orlando picked up its first win with a 103-94 triumph at New Orleans on Tuesday but could not finish out the three-game road trip on a winning note with a 119-114 overtime setback at Houston on Wednesday. The big step forward on the trip came from swingman Evan Fournier, who went 9-of-28 from the field in the first two games but improved to 31-of-56 and an average of 26 points on the three-game excursion. Fournier, who failed to reach an agreement with the Magic on a contract extension prior to Monday’s deadline, totaled 89 minutes in the back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Magic C Nikola Vucevic left Wednesday’s game with a knee injury and will sit out Friday.
2. Raptors G DeMar DeRozan is averaging 11 free throw attempts and connecting at an 81.8 percent clip.
3. Toronto has taken 11 straight in the series.