PORTLAND – In the NBA, good teams win most of their home games, but great teams win their share of games both at home and on the road.
While the Orlando Magic have been solid at the Amway Center this season and mostly took care of their business on last week’s home stand, they have opened some eyes with the toughness and resiliency that they have shown in some hostile venues. Of their four road victories thus far – tied for the third most in the Eastern Conference – the Magic have won in Boston, in San Antonio, in Los Angeles against the Lakers and in New York against the Knicks. Also, they have pushed powerful teams such as the Warriors and 76ers to the brink on the road before losing in heartbreaking fashion in the fourth quarter.
Tonight, the Magic (10-11) head into another formidable venue in Portland to face a Trail Blazers team that should be desperate after dropping its past three games overall. The Magic have won just once in their past six trips into Portland (12-8), but clearly this is a different team that the ones before that often wilted in the face of playing in hostile road environments.
``This is a big-time game for us because we want to have a positive record on this road trip,’’ said Magic guard Evan Fournier, who pronounced himself fully healthy for tonight’s game after struggling with a quad injury on Monday. ``We’re focusing on tonight. We dropped one in Golden State the other night in a game that we could have won. So, we can’t drop two in a row.’’
On the road for a daunting five-game, nine-night road trip, the Magic have hit the point where tonight’s game could ultimately decide the tenor of the trip. Fall tonight and the Magic are guaranteed of having a losing road trip after losing to Denver and Golden State on both sides of their defeat of LeBron James and the Lakers on Los Angeles this past Sunday. However, if the Magic can win tonight, they will give themselves a chance at a successful trip if they can close it out Friday in Phoenix.
``If you look at this road trip, with the way teams are playing … sometimes, you get lucky, but we happened to hit quality opponents who are playing well, and we didn’t catch a break here,’’ Magic coach Steve Clifford said. ``I’m just looking at like, `how are we playing?’ We played one poor game and two really good games. This is a tough place to play and (the Blazers) are very good. What I want to see is hopefully that same fight and resiliency that we showed (on Monday night versus the Warriors) and in L.A. (on Sunday).’’
Magic forward Aaron Gordon, the team’s best on-ball defender all season, will be a game-time decision to play because of a stiff lower back. That injury kept Gordon out of the final 18 minutes of Monday’s loss in Oakland to the Warriors.
``I think Aaron is going to be a struggle (to play); he’s still trying to get ready,’’ Clifford said.
If Gordon can’t play, the Magic could potentially start second-year forward Jonathan Isaac, who might finally see the minutes restriction placed on him in recent weeks lifted. While the 21-year-old Isaac had his defensive struggles against Kevin Durant – his favorite player while growing up – he played well in other areas and gave the Magic 14 points, four rebounds, three 3-pointers and a steal in 30 minutes.
``(Potentially not having Gordon) is a big hit, but we’re lucky that we have (Isaac), who also is a good defender,’’ Clifford said. ``The luxury that we have that not many teams have is that when we have them both, we have 48 minutes of a really, really good individual and team defender.’’
Not having Gordon in Monday’s second half was a killer for the Magic considering that his defensive assignment, Durant, poured in 49 points – 29 of them in the second half and 23 of them after Gordon retreated to the locker room so that athletic trainers could examine his ailing lower back.
Orlando will likely need all of their top defenders on the floor against a Portland team that has given them fits for the last couple of years with its offensive firepower. The Blazers shot 55.2 percent in the second half and scored 70 points over the final 24 minutes to defeat the Magic 128-114 in Orlando on Oct. 25. In that game, Damian Lillard had 41 points by making 13 of 23 shots and five of 10 3-pointers.
In his last five games against the Magic, Lillard has averaged 31 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists. In 13 career games against Orlando, Lillard has recorded four double-doubles and has scored at least 33 points four times.
``(Lillard and Portland guard CJ McCollum) are coming at you the whole game, so you’ve got to be mentally ready for that,’’ Fournier said. ``You’re not going to have any possessions off. As long as the focus is there, we should be fine. We just need to be aware (of Lillard and McCollum) and fight through it.’’
Like Lillard, Vucevic has also played well in the series against the Blazers. In 11 career games against Portland, he has recorded nine double-doubles and has scored at least 22 points against Portland eight times. In his career against Portland, he has averaged 23 points per game – his highest scoring average against any foe in the NBA.
``Road trips are always a good test for any team, especially this yearly in the year,’’ said Magic center Nikola Vucevic, who has played well this season no matter the venue. ``A trip like this will let us know where we’re at against some of the best teams in the league and the West. And when you hit adversity on the road, your team is all that you have. You don’t get to go home and spend time with your family or friends. It’s just about being there for each other and relying on each other to get through the tough times. It happens quick and it feels like time goes by faster when you’re on the road. So, this is a good test for us.’’
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