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Magic vs. Heat: Pregame Report

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton
Oct. 18, 2016

MIAMI – With the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat set to open the regular-season against one another next Wednesday, tonight’s preseason game could potentially give the two teams a sneak peak of what’s to come when the results really matter.

However, the picture offered up tonight will most likely be an incomplete one considering all of the key players who won’t be playing.

Orlando (1-4) will rest center Bismack Biyombo tonight against the Heat (3-2) and it will hold out small forward Aaron Gordon, who is still suffering from the lingering effects of a severely sprained ankle suffered back in September. Gordon vowed on Tuesday morning that his ankle is sound and he hopes to play in the preseason finale against New Orleans on Thursday.

As for Miami, center Hassan Whiteside will not be with the team because of a personal matter and small forward Justise Winslow is a game-time decision because of a stiff back.

The Magic, which host the Heat in the first game of the regular season on Oct. 26, is expected to go with a starting lineup of Nikola Vucevic, Serge Ibaka, Jeff Green, Evan Fournier and Elfrid Payton. Vucevic, who hopes to get his offensive game going tonight, hopes to use the game to learn more about a Miami team still adjusting to life without Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

``It’s a whole new team now without Wade and Bosh and it will be weird,’’ said Vucevic, who has had some of the best games of his career against the Heat over the past four years. ``Their two main guys now will be (Goran) Dragic and (Hassan) Whiteside, so it will be a different look for us. It will be a different Miami and it will give us the opportunity to see what they are going to play like this season and the new players on the team. It will probably be a different style offense, so this will be a good preparation for the regular-season game on the 26th.’’

Orlando re-tooled its roster in the offseason and the additions of Ibaka and Biyombo dramatically change the look and feel of Orlando’s offense and defense. Ibaka has played well in his three preseason games, averaging 17 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks. Meanwhile, Biyombo has given the Magic a hard-nosed leader on the defensive end of the floor and he’s averaged 6.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 26 minutes a game.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said Orlando’s offseason additions should make it a force on the defensive end of the floor.

``Those two guys can impact your defense right away without any kind of continuity or understanding of the system (needed) and early on they’ll still have an impact,’’ Spoelstra said on Tuesday morning. ``They are both tremendous shot blockers, extra-effort guys defensively and they make it tough to score in the paint and both of them are very big rebounders.’’

Vucevic has been one of Orlando’s best rebounders and scorers for the past four years, but he hasn’t looked to command the ball as much this preseason. Part of the reason that he’s averaged just 8 points and shot 32.4 percent from the floor, he said, is because he’s mostly deferred and looked to set others up for baskets with is passing.

Vucevic has averaged 3.5 assists a game thus far in four preseason games, a number that would easily qualify as a career high for him. Tonight, however, Vucevic vowed to be more aggressive and look for his own shots.

``I was trying to kind of get a feel of playing with the guys, get the team going and move the ball, so maybe I wasn’t as aggressive as I’ve been in the past,’’ said Vucevic, who has averaged 19.3 and 18.2 points a game the last two seasons for the Magic. ``I haven’t looked for my shot as much, but that’s something I want to do in these last two games before the regular season starts. (Scoring) is a big part of my game, it’s something that I do well and I don’t want to take that away. So it’s important for the team for me to stay aggressive and that will also create shots for others when defenses help. I’m not going to force anything, but I’m going to be more aggressive.’’

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