Grizzlies at Magic
The Orlando Magic are winners of three in a row as they try to chase down the Miami Heat for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Memphis Grizzlies, who visit the Magic on Friday, are no longer in playoff contention in the West but are giving postseason teams tough battles of late, including a win over Orlando at home earlier this month.
Orlando remained 1 1/2 games behind the Heat after jumping on top early and knocking off the New Orleans Pelicans 119-96 on Wednesday. "Even if (seventh-place Brooklyn and Miami) weren't winning, we'd still need to win every game and we'd need to win our way in," Magic All-Star center Nikola Vucevic told reporters. "Every game matters for us and the same thing for them. We can't focus too much on other teams and we have to focus on ourselves because if we don't win, it's not going to matter. Take care of business first." The Grizzlies' last four wins came over teams fighting for postseason position and they are coming off a 126-125 overtime triumph over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. "It's not like we're like, 'Oh, they're a playoff team we want to play better,'" Memphis guard Delon Wright told reporters. "We're trying to win every game. It just so happens that we're beating the playoff teams that are playing for something."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS South (Memphis), FS Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (29-42): Memphis center Jonas Valanciunas came over at the trade deadline in the deal that sent former All-Star Marc Gasol to Toronto and is quickly becoming a team leader. "He's obviously learning the terminology and things that we're trying to develop, but from a personality standpoint, he's been all in," Grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters of Valanciunas. "... With his personality, he wants the right things. He tries to do the right things all the time. So, guys believe it when he says the things that he says, and they feel his energy and his purpose." Valanciunas recorded a career-high 33 points and a season-best 15 rebounds in Wednesday's win.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (34-38): Orlando pushed its home winning streak to five in a row with Wednesday's victory and is feeling good about itself after beginning the five-game homestand with three consecutive double-figure wins. "We're playing in a way that is sustainable, we believe," power forward Aaron Gordon told reporters. "It's not so much about the other teams (in the playoff race), but about what we do. We know we're going to have a chance to play our way into the playoffs and we've just got to take it one day at a time." Gordon is doing all he can to help the team along and scored 20-plus points in each of the last three contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Grizzlies PG Mike Conley scored 35 points on Wednesday and is averaging 29.5 over his last six contests.
2. Magic PF Jonathan Isaac is 1-of-14 from 3-point range over the last three games.
3. Orlando shot 35.6 percent from the floor in the 105-97 loss at Memphis on March 10.