Trail Blazers at Magic
The Portland Trail Blazers begin a four-game road trip with a visit to the improving Orlando Magic on Thursday. The Trail Blazers went 2-1 on a three-game homestand and now open a road excursion against an Orlando team coming off a road win at Boston.
Portland sees the trip as an opportunity to pick up wins as it plays the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets after the stop in Orlando. "Going into this trip we look at all these games like they're winnable," star guard Damian Lillard told reporters. "If we go out there with the mentality that we've had so far, I think we'll be fine." The Magic are brimming with confidence after Monday's 93-90 victory over the Celtics, a game they never trailed while holding off Boston's late-game charge. "I think it's more of a team thing because we played so well," Orlando forward Jonathan Isaac told reporters, "and it shows us what we're capable of as a team when we play together and we're focused."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), FS Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (2-1): Portland dropped a 125-124 overtime decision to the Washington Wizards on Monday, a contest in which Lillard was a porous 7-of-21 shooting despite scoring 29 points and also contributing eight rebounds and eight assists. "I might be missing shots, but I'm always here for the game," Lillard told the media. "Sometimes it don't go. You've got to continue to be aggressive. Shots weren't falling." Center Jusuf Nurkic enjoyed a big game with 22 points and 18 rebounds - nine of his boards coming on the offensive end.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (2-2): First-round pick Mohamed Bamba played 19 scoreless minutes against Boston and is being brought along slowly by the coaching staff. The 7-footer, who was the sixth overall pick, is averaging 4.5 points and 4.5 rebounds, but has just five points on 2-of-11 shooting over the last three contests. "When people talk about him starting, he's not going to be ready this year physically to play 32 minutes. He's just not," Orlando coach Steve Clifford told reporters of the 20-year-old. "That's just not his body. Again, at his age and where he is physically, he's not capable of playing 30 minutes."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers won both of last season's meetings and have prevailed in four of the past five.
2. Portland F Al-Farouq Aminu had 16 points and 15 rebounds against the Wizards for his first double-double of the season.
3. Orlando C Timofey Mozgov (knee) is expected to miss his fifth straight game.