Mavericks at Magic
The Orlando Magic were surging up the standings in the Eastern Conference before falling on the final two stops of a three-game road trip and will try to get back on track at home when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. The Magic sit one game behind the eighth-place Miami Heat and 3 1/2 in back of seventh-place Brooklyn.
Orlando will play its next seven games against sub-.500 teams and is looking to boost an offense that was held to 42 points in the second half of Tuesday's 114-106 loss at Philadelphia. "We created shots that, if we're going to win that game on the road, we've got to make them," Magic coach Steve Clifford told reporters. "We had two wide-open threes, two shots right at the rim and two post-ups that you've got to score on with matchups we take every time. If we're going to win these games - and this league is about a lot of things - shot-making is right at the top of the list, and those are shots that we've got to make." Orlando shouldn't have a problem making shots against a Mavericks defense that allowed an average of 129.5 points on the first two stops of the three-game trip. "It's hard to have a perfect defensive game against these guys, but I thought our collective fight in the game was really good compared to the Brooklyn game, so we made a couple of strides there," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters after a 132-123 loss at Washington on Wednesday. "We've got to clean up a couple of areas, and a lot of it's going to be about possession of the ball, low turnovers and good rebounding numbers, and we're just going to have to play the game really hard and really together."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Dallas), FS Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (27-37): Rookie sensation Luka Doncic slumped to 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting in the 127-88 loss at Brooklyn that began the trip on Monday but bounced back with 31 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals at Washington. "It was almost impossible to get him off the floor tonight he was playing so well," Carlisle told reporters of Doncic. "He struck a terrific balance between drives, the outside shot and involving his teammates." Doncic is averaging 21.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (30-36): Orlando believes it can make the playoffs and is no longer looking to take positive steps in losses. "That's the nature of it right now - you've either got to be able to handle these (disappointments) and be able to come back or we don't deserve to be a playoff team," Clifford told reporters. "This is what it's all about and this is where we find out who can step up and do what they have to do. We can't do the 'we played better in the second half,' which I just told them. These are the games we need to win." All-Star center Nikola Vucevic recorded a double-double on Tuesday but was held to 5-of-15 shooting.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Magic SG Terrence Ross (Achilles) sat out Tuesday and is day-to-day.
2. Mavericks PF Dwight Powell is 17-of-19 from the floor on the road trip, including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc.
3. Dallas blasted Orlando 101-76 at home on Dec. 10.