Wizards at Magic
Two teams looking for a spark to ignite a run of victories meet when the Orlando Magic host the Washington Wizards on Friday night in a Southeast Division clash. The Magic have lost two straight due to a sputtering offense after winning three of four and the Wizards knocked off Phoenix 106-101 on Monday with a 42-point effort from Bradley Beal, but they have yet to win two games in a row this season.
Beal drained 14-of-22 from the field on Monday while connecting on half of his 10 tries from 3-point range after scoring 34 in the loss to Miami on Saturday. “He can be one of the best two-way players in the league, and my job is to continue to push him to strive for greatness,” Washington coach Scott Brooks told reporters. “. … It takes a lot of inner drive and determination, but I think he has the ability to be that player.” Orlando, which made several changes to its rotation in the offseason, is 30th in the league in field-goal percentage (40.7) and 29th in scoring (91.9). “We’ve got to get it going now if we want to be there in the picture by February, by March, April,” Magic forward Jeff Green told the Orlando Sentinel. “We’ve got to correct things now.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic Plus (Washington), FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (4-9): Beal is averaging 20.2 points overall, second only to point guard John Wall (23.5) on the team, while the third- and fourth-leading scorers are nursing injuries. Forward Markieff Morris (13.0 points) is probable with a sore foot while swingman Otto Porter (14.5) left the Phoenix game with a hip ailment and is considered day-to-day. Center Marcin Gortat is averaging 11.4 points and 12.5 rebounds, and is shooting 66.7 percent over his last five games with four double-doubles in that stretch to push his total to eight on the season.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (6-9): Orlando has scored fewer than 90 points in eight of 15 games, including the last two against Milwaukee and Phoenix in close losses. “We don’t work hard enough to get open, screen well enough to get open and read (defenses) well enough to create open shots for teammates,” Magic coach Frank Vogel told reporters. “And we’re not shooting the ball well enough.” Evan Fournier is the leading scorer (17.4) after posting 25 in the 92-87 setback against the Phoenix while Serge Ibaka (13.7) continued his inconsistency with a 2-for-9 shooting performance.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Magic snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Wizards on Nov. 5 with an 88-86 victory at home.
2. Orlando C Nikola Vucevic has three of his six double-doubles on the season in the last four games.
3. Wall is fourth in the league in assists (8.9) and has totaled 34 in the last three contests.