Here is what you need to know before the Lakers face off with the Orlando Magic.
1)
Wesley Johnson will not play for the third straight game due to a strained right hip flexor. The Lakers lost both of their previous two games without Johnson, and they are winless in the seven contests he has missed since joining the team last season.
2)
On the other hand, Ronnie Price will be back in the lineup for the Lakers after sitting out Wednesday’s 25-point loss to the Clippers due to a broken nose and flulike symptoms. This game also marks a reunion for Price, who played for Orlando last year. He averaged 2.4 points and 2.1 assists in his only season with the Magic.
3)
Nikola Vucevic has been one of the league’s best rebounders, as he averages the sixth-most boards per contest (11.0). The USC product is also scoring a career-high 18.0 points per game, leading to 20 double-doubles this season, which is only one behind NBA leader Anthony Davis.
Nikola Vucevic Shot Chart
4)
Tobias Harris has found his stroke this season, shooting career highs from the field (47.4) and 3-point range (40.7). Though this shooting has him leading the Magic in scoring (18.1), he has also made huge contributions on the glass, where he is second among all small forwards with 7.0 rebounds per game.
5)
In his second season, Victor Oladipo has risen to the top of his draft class in many aspects of the game. The former Indiana Hoosier is tied with Michael Carter-Williams as the leading scorer among sophomores (14.9 ppg), while also dishing out the third-most assists (3.9). But Oladipo has made his mark on defense, leading all 2012 draftees with a team-high 1.7 steals.
6)
Defense is in Elfrid Payton’s blood. The rookie is second among his draft class with 1.4 steals per game, and he won the Lefty Driessell Award — which is given to the NCAA’s top defender — at Louisiana-Lafayette last year. Payton’s father, Elfrid Sr., is a member of the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame, and was named the 2002 CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player as a defensive end for the Edmonton Eskimos.
7)
Channing Frye is listed as questionable against the Lakers due to a sprained right elbow and strained right tricep. The nine-year veteran has experienced a rough last pair of games, missing all seven of his shots and finishing with zero points, two rebounds and five personal fouls in 31 combined minutes.
8)
The Magic as a whole have struggled recently, dropping four straight games for the fourth time this season. Orlando has allowed opponents to shoot 48.1 percent from the field during this stretch and is losing by an average score of 100-91. Should the Magic fall to the Lakers, it will mark their longest losing streak of the season.
9)
Still, Orlando (13-25) has shown to be much improved from last season’s squad (23-59), particularly on the road where its nine wins have already lapped the total from the previous year (four). This progress has stemmed mainly on the defensive end where the Magic are allowing 4.8 fewer points this season (98.0).
10)
Orlando’s offense has been sputtering all season, as it is tied with Miami for the third-fewest points per game (93.8) in the league. Much of this has to do with the Magic’s inability to get to the free throw line, where they are averaging the NBA’s second-fewest foul shots (18.6). Orlando has also performed poorly when it does get to the charity stripe, as its 72.6 percentage has resulted in the fewest made free throws in the league (13.5).