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By John DentonNov. 25, 2014
ORLANDO – Much like life, the daily grind of the NBA’s marathon season stops for no man. So even though the Orlando Magic are road-weary and depleted by injuries, their reward this Thanksgiving season is a Wednesday showdown against the best in the West and a looming 10-trip that figures to be equally taxing.
Even before Wednesday’s 7 p.m. game at the Amway Center against the high-powered Golden State Warriors, the Magic will have played as many games (16) and more road games (10) than any other team in the NBA. And all of that wear and tear of late has robbed Orlando of elite scorer Tobias Harris (calf strain), rookie forward Aaron Gordon (foot surgery), power forward/center Kyle O’Quinn (ankle sprain) and rookie reserve Devyn Marble (sprained rotator cuff) and left them with a paper-thin margin for error against foes.
Throw in the fact that the Magic haven’t played consecutive games at home since Nov. 1 – something that won’t occur until Dec. 21 and well after the upcoming six-game jaunt through the Western Conference that starts on Thanksgiving Night – and Orlando’s 6-10 record so far is actually quite the feat.
If Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn had his choice he’d signal for a timeout on the schedule and fast-forward to the new super-sized NBA All-Star break so that his team could reacquaint itself with its home digs and get healthy. But there is no such option, and Vaughn vowed on Monday night following an unsightly loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers that the Magic will continue to push forward with what they have available.
``The bad thing is the games keep coming,’’ Vaughn cracked. ``I wouldn’t mind … can we just do all-star break right now? That would be nice to get everybody whole and healthy. But we’ll manage. This is what we signed up for.’’
The Magic are so short-handed and bedeviled by injuries that Vaughn gave the team Tuesday off to rest up after getting back into Orlando just before 1 a.m. They will need that rest to keep pace with a Warriors team that finally seems to be living up to its massive potential under first-year head coach Steve Kerr.
Golden State entered Tuesday’s game in Miami ranked first in the NBA in field goal percentage allowed (41 percent) and second in their own field goal percentage (48.5 percent). Led by standout guards Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and underrated forward Draymond Green, the Warriors are averaging 106.5 points a game (3rd) and giving up just 96.4 points per game (10th). They rank in the top six in the NBA in five major offensive categories, while being in the top 10 of six top defensive categories.
``I was in the Western Conference (the past two seasons), so I’ve played them maybe 10 times and they play with a high pace and they obviously have a lot of shooters,’’ said Magic guard Evan Fournier, who has had a breakout first season in Orlando by averaging 16.5 points and 2.5 assists a game. ``They play very hard, so it’s going to be a tough game for us. There will be a lot of tough matchups for us.’’
Orlando had a tough matchup with LeBron James on Monday night, and it wasn’t made any easier by the loss of Harris. The versatile forward, who is averaging career highs across the board, missed a second straight game because of lingering pain in his calf. He hopes to play on Wednesday, and if he can’t it will force the Magic to scramble their rotations once again.
``It’s hard because (Harris) is huge for us,’’ Fournier said. ``It’s not hard to find a rhythm when you have a guy like him who is out. So hopefully he can come back ASAP.’’
Added Vaughn: ``The overall balance on our team (is disrupted). We’re missing 19 points a game from a guy named Tobias Harris. That puts pressure on other guys to do things that we haven’t asked them to do. It just puts pressure on your team.’’
There’s certainly been plenty of pressure of Magic power forward Channing Frye what with the way teams have smothered him defensively and refused to leave him open for 3-point shots. Frye got up just three shots on Monday and his one make came on a 3-pointer in transition. Frye, Orlando’s prized free-agent acquisition from last July, is shooting a robust 43.2 percent from 3-point range, but he’s averaging just 9.4 points because of his lack of open looks.
``I’m having an impact, but it’s with teams wanting to play four-on-four,’’ joked Frye, referring to defenders staying up on him and disregarding their usual help-defense assignments. ``For me, I just have to find out how to be more active. I have to continue to watch film and make sure that I’m doing other things. Creating spacing is good and all, but sometimes I feel like I have to get involved in other ways. That will come as I develop with guys. My job is to create space for guys and shoot the ball, but right now I can’t even sneeze without somebody being in my face when I get the ball. But give teams credit because they are doing what they have to do.’’
Frye, a seasoned NBA veteran in his ninth season, knows that no one around the league feels sorry for the Magic because of their road-heavy early schedule or their crippling injuries. Frye said it’s important that Orlando doesn’t fall back on excuses and continues to push through the challenges ahead in the form of Golden State and the 10-day trip.
``I’m not making excuses for us. We have opportunities to win and everybody is going to have to play their (schedule),’’ Frye stressed. ``This is good bonding thing. It’s like a gigantic road trip for us like a AAU team. So let’s just suck it up, stop making excuses and let’s come out and get some wins. Losing (stinks).’’