The Orlando Magic will start their west coast road trip Saturday night against the Golden State Warriors. The Magic are 15-4 and are the hottest team in the NBA, winning nine of their last 10 games.
The Warriors just 6-12 and have lost four of their last five games. Golden State Guard Monta Ellis has been on fire as of late and is averaging 23.9 points per game and 5.2 assists per game for the Warriors this season.
Tip off from the Oracle Arena in Oakland is schedule for 10:30. You can watch the game on FSN. As always, if you can’t watch the game, you can hear it locally on WDBO 580 AM and in Spanish on WONQ AM 1030.
The Line: Orlando – 7.5
Starters:
Orlando
Dwight Howard
Rashard Lewis
Mickael Pietrus
Vince Carter
Jason Williams
Golden State
Mikki Moore
Vladimir Radmanovic
Monta Ellis
Stephen Curry
CJ Watson
Last Meeting: These two teams last faced off back on December 22, 2008. Jameer Nelson had 22 points and 7 assists leading the Magic to a 113-81 victory. The Magic held Golden State’s offense to just 31.9% shooting from the field. Dwight Howard chipped in 21 points and 11 rebounds. Anthony Randolph had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors.
Season Series: This is the first meeting between these teams this season, but the Magic swept the season series 2-0 last year. Jameer Nelson averaged 27 points per game against the Warriors last season, but he is still recovering from a torn meniscus. Dwight Howard did not play in the first meeting last season, which Orlando won 109-98, but Marcin Gortat had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the starting Center. Rashard Lewis scored 21 points in each game.
About the Magic: The Magic have won nine of their last 10 games and have improved their record to 15-4. With a win tonight, they will tie Boston for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
This marks the start a four game west coast road trip. The Magic will also play the Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz, and Phoenix Suns before heading back east.
Magic Center Dwight Howard struggled early in the season. He was plagued by foul trouble. He has really picked up his play over the past five games.
Because Howard is averaging just 2.8 fouls per game over his last four games, he has played 37 minutes per game, scored 22.5 points game, blocked 2.5 shots per game and grabbed 15.8 rebounds per game. That’s the Dwight Howard we know. I’ll have more on Howard’s early season struggles and recent resurgence later in the week.
Speaking of Center, Marcin Gortat is upset about his playing time. Gortat picked up two quick fouls on Wednesday night against the Knicks and was replaced by Brandon Bass who is normally a Power Forward. Bass had 17 points in the game. In a game against Charlotte where Bass also had to play center due to Gortat being sick, he had 10 points and 6 rebounds. It will be interesting to see who Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy turns to when Dwight Howard exits the game.
Former Warriors Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus will face their former team.
About the Warriors: The Warriors are a very dangerous team offensively. They are not very efficient (17th in the NBA), but they score 109.4 points per game, shoot 47.8% from the field and 38.4% of their 3-point attempts. The Warriors have seven players that average in double figures, led by Monta Ellis’ 23.9 points per game. Ellis has been fantastic, shooting 46% from the field. Ellis had a 42-point game in San Antonio on November 25 and a 45-point game in a win over the Pacers on November 30. He has also had a 34-point game and 37-point game so Mickael Pietrus will once again have his work cut out for him.
Starting Small Forward Anthony Morrow will not play.
Unfortunately for Golden State fans, the Warriors are terrible on defense. Awful. They are the second least efficient defensive team in the league (but they shouldn’t worry about dropping – the Raptors are by far the worst defensive team in the league and one of the worst defensive teams I have ever seen).
The Warriors give up 113.6 points per game and allow teams to shoot 50% from the field. The Warriors also allow opponents to make 7.1 3-pointers per game on 37.5% shooting. Golden State gives up an eFG% of 54.1%. That should excite Orlando’s group of shooters.
The Warriors are a terrible rebounding team so the Magic should be able to dominate on the glass Saturday night.
Mikki Moore is currently Golden State’s starting Center so Dwight Howard should be able to dominate the paint and continue his recent stretch of excellent play.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)