Magic at Timberwolves
The Orlando Magic split the first two contests of a lengthy road excursion as they enter Friday's tilt against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Orlando won three of its past four overall games while the Timberwolves dropped three of their past four contests.
The Magic opened the trip with a 125-100 loss to the Charlotte Hornets before recovering to rout the Chicago Bulls 112-84 on Wednesday and look for more efforts like the latter with games against the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz also looming. "The next four games are going to be hard," shooting guard Evan Fournier told reporters. "With all of the travelling and games, it's going to be tough, but (Wednesday) was a really good game for us and it gives us confidence for the rest of the trip. We just have to keep playing this way." The Timberwolves dropped a 115-102 road decision against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday and are allowing an average of 116.3 points over the past four games. Small forward Andrew Wiggins scored a season-high 31 points against Boston for his second 30-point effort of the season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Orlando), FS North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE MAGIC (17-20): Center Nikola Vucevic recorded 22 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots against the Bulls for his 25th double-double of the season and he was impressed with his team's strong first quarter (32-16 lead) against the Bulls. "That was a really great win for us, and we started out the game really well on both ends of the floor," Vucevic told reporters after topping 20 points for the fourth time in five games. "I think when we start a game like we did defensively, it gives us a lot of energy. And we were able sustain it for 48 minutes." Point guard D.J. Augustin (ankle) had 10 points and six assists in 25 minutes after missing Monday's loss to Charlotte.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (17-21): Minnesota couldn't compete with Boston with point guards Derrick Rose (right ankle) and Jeff Teague (left ankle) and forward Robert Covington (right ankle and knee) all sidelined but the on-court communication was choppy as well without Covington, who has been ruled out of Friday's game. "That's on us. Just on the players," Wiggins told reporters. "The coaches can coach, but the players who are on the floor, we see what's happening so we have to make the decisions to call what we're doing." Center Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 28 points and 12 rebounds and he has five straight 20-point efforts and five straight double-doubles.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Timberwolves won three of the past four meetings after dropping the previous five.
2. Orlando SF Jonathon Simmons (ankle) is questionable after missing the previous two games.
3. Minnesota PG Tyus Jones is averaging 12.4 points, 7.6 assists and 2.8 steals over the past five contests.