Magic at Mavericks
Two teams moving in different directions face off when the Dallas Mavericks host the Orlando Magic on Saturday. The Mavericks started off slow and are surging of late while the Magic are plummeting out of the race in the Eastern Conference.
Dallas spent the first two months just trying to stay out of the basement in the Western Conference but are winners of 10 of their last 15 games and are coming off a 112-105 overtime triumph over the Utah Jazz on Thursday in which Harrison Barnes scored eight of his 31 points in the extra period. "He’s totally committed to being a great player," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters of Barnes. "His work ethic is second to none of any player I've ever been around as a player or coach. He is really a relentless worker, loves the game, came here because he relished the opportunity to take on a bigger responsibility." Orlando can't seem to put 48 minutes together and squandered a double-digit lead in the first half at home against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday before suffering a 112-111 loss. "It’s a bad loss and there is no other way to say it," Magic shooting guard Evan Fournier told reporters. "We really should have won by 15 tonight, maybe 20. But we just kept letting them come back into the game. So, yeah, a bad loss."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Orlando), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE MAGIC (20-35): Orlando lost at Atlanta and at Houston by a combined 51 points before committing 21 turnovers in the tight loss to the 76ers. Magic center Nikola Vucevic scored 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting in the latest setback but was critical of his team's play. "This is what happens when you have big leads all throughout the game and you don’t control the game," Vucevic told reporters. "When you let teams back in, a lot of times you are going to lose those games – especially after the way we start playing like we’re up 40. It’s unacceptable, especially in the position we’re in where we can’t even get a win right now."
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (21-32): One of the main reasons for Dallas' uptick over the last month is the consistent production coming from shooting guard Seth Curry, who scored in double figures in 13 of the last 15 games. Curry logged 43 minutes in Thursday's win and contributed 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. "He’s another dynamic scoring option for us,” Barnes told ESPN.com of Curry. "He's able to get in the paint. He’s able to knock down jump shots. ... That helps us so much, especially in times when we get stagnant. He can go out and get a shot for us."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Magic PF Aaron Gordon (left foot) sat out Thursday and is day-to-day.
2. Mavericks PG Yogi Ferrell scored nine points on Thursday after averaging 17.8 in the previous five contests.
3. Orlando grabbed a 95-87 home win over Dallas on Nov. 19 as Vucevic recorded a double-double.