ORLANDO – Having dropped two games in a row at a critical point in the season, the Orlando Magic head into a stretch of games that could very well decide their fate as it relates to the playoffs.
Starting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Amway Center, when the Magic (30-26) face the Dallas Mavericks (27-37), Orlando will play seven consecutive games against teams with losing records over the next 15 nights. After tonight, the Magic will face Memphis (30-35) two times, Washington (27-37), Cleveland (16-49), Atlanta (22-44) and New Orleans (30-37).
After dropping road games to Cleveland and Philadelphia, the Magic sit in a tie for ninth place in the East with the Charlotte Hornets (29-35). Those two teams are a game back of the Miami Heat (30-34) for the final playoff spot in the East. That only heightens the Magic’s need to rack up as many wins as possible against the seven losing teams upcoming, starting with tonight against the slumping Mavericks, who have lost three games in a row and eight of nine.
``It’s an important stretch and this could define our season,’’ Magic all-star center Nikola Vucevic said. ``We just lost two in a row and went back down in the standings a little bit, so it’s important that we try to get some wins in these next seven-to-10 games. We’ll have a god home stretch too, so it’s important for us to defend home court. I don’t think it has anything to do with the opponent; it’s just that time of the year and every game is important.’’
A Magic team that has played two more games than the Heat and Hornets got two days of much-needed rest on Wednesday and Thursday after playing a stretch of seven games in 12 nights following to break for the NBA All-Star Game. That time off allowed shooting guard Terrence Ross to recover from the sore left Achilles’ tendon that kept him out of Tuesday’s loss in Philadelphia. Also, Ross – who is averaging a career-best 14.6 points per game – has been battling flu-like symptoms in recent days, but he is good to go tonight for a stretch of games he knows will be important to the Magic.
``It can big for us, but we’ve got to take them one game at a time,’’ Ross said. ``You don’t want to look too far ahead into the future, but there are not too many games left. If we can just take these games one at a time, then in these next few weeks we’ll know that it will all be worth it. It’s like the last stretch of the race and this is where you’ve got to dig deep.’’
Tonight’s game could the final one at the Amway Center for Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki, who is the NBA’s second-oldest player (40 years old) and is wrapping up his 21stseason with the Raptors. Nowitzki has yet to decide if he will retire of return for one more season, but he is averaging career lows in points and rebounds this season. In 34 career games against the Magic, the 2011 NBA champion has averaged 21.1 points and 7.1 rebounds a game while shooting 48.2 percent from the floor and 42.5 percent from 3-point range.
``Dirk is legend, man, and he’s always been one of my favorite players,’’ Ross said. ``Growing up, I’d always imitate his little turnaround shot from the elbow (of the lane). I always liked the super swish he made with his shot. He’s definitely a Hall of Famer, he’s super fun to watch and he’s always been super fun to watch.’’
Nowitzki’s role as leader of the Mavericks has been shifted to 20-year-old guard Luka Doncic, the heavy favorite to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award after averaging 21 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.1 steals a game. The Slovenia native has been a professional since he was 16 years old and he seemingly had no problem adjusting to life in the NBA despite his youth.
Magic forward Aaron Gordon will receive the bulk of the defensive responsibility against Doncic, who has thrived this season in pick-and-roll sets. Magic forwards Jonathan Isaac and Wes Iwundu will also take turns in checking the do-everything guard.
To rack up a win tonight – and several of them over this seven-game stretch – the Magic must get back to being a dominant defensive team, head coach Steve Clifford said. From Jan. 1 to Feb. 1, the Magic ranked second in the NBA in defensive rating. However, in the seven games since the return from the All-Star break, the Magic have slipped to seventh in the NBA in that category.
``My message (on Thursday to the players) was that if you look at our best stretches of the season, we were an elite defensive team,’’ Clifford said. ``So, if you look at this stretch of games since we came back (from the All-Star break), we’re seventh in defense. I told yesterday, `That probably won’t be good enough.’ We’re going to have to be top three or top four (to reach the playoffs).’’
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