Orlando Magic @ Toronto Raptors

After defeating the Charlotte Bobcats Friday night, the Magic will be back in action Sunday when they take on the Toronto Raptors.

Toronto has lost six straight games and has one of the league’s worst records at 20-55. Orlando is now 48-28.

These two teams have split their two meetings this season.

Back on November 12 in Orlando, the Raptors got a tie-breaking 3-pointer by Sonny Weems with seven seconds to go to lead Toronto to a 110-106 victory. Andre Bargani led the Raptors with 27 points while Dwight Howard scored 25 for the Magic.

The Raptors and Magic met again in Orlando on January 21 and the Magic got their revenge, destroying the Raptors 112-72. DeMar DeRozan’s 16 points led the Raptors while Dwight Howard had 31 points and 19 rebounds for the Magic.

The Raptors are 10th in pace (95.6), 21st in offensive efficiency (103.1) and last in defensive efficiency (109.9).

The game will be shown locally on Fox Sports Florida. As always, if you can’t watch the game, you can listen on the radio – in English on AM 580 WDBO and in Spanish on AM 1270 WRLZ.

Tip off from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario is scheduled for 6:00 pm EST.

The Line: Orlando – 9.0, 196u

Starters:

Toronto Raptors

Amir Johnson
Ed Davis
James Johnson
DeMar DeRozan
Jerryd Bayless

Orlando Magic

Dwight Howard
Brandon Bass
Hedo Tukoglu
Jason Richardson
Jameer Nelson

The Raptors were without Jose Calderon (tightness in left hamstring) and Andrea Bargnani (sore left ankle) against the Bulls Saturday night.

J.J. Redick continues to sit out with abdomen problems. Chris Duhon remains out with a thumb injury. Gilbert Arenas missed the trip because he’s suffering from “flulike symptoms.”

The officials will be Marc Davis, Mark Lindsay and Jason Phillips.

Of Note: The Magic are 31-25 all time against the Raptors and are 1-1 this season. The Magic defeated the Raptors in five games in the opening round of the 2008 postseason. Hedo Turkoglu is expected to be booed heavily in his return to Toronto. Before the 2009-10 regular season, Turkoglu signed a five-year, $53 million deal with the Raptors. He was traded to the Suns in the offseason before being sent to Orlando in December. Magic assistant Brendan Malone was the first ever coach of the Raptors.

Opponent To Watch: DeMar DeRozan, G – DeRozan has been one of the few bright spots for the Raptors this season. DeRozan is getting a lot more time this season and is making the most of it, averaging 16.7 points per game. Both DeRozan’s true shooting and effective field goal percentage have taken a dip this season but the sample size is much bigger. DeRozan has been good against the Magic this season, scoring 21.0 points per game on 48.3% shooting. His quickness and athleticism will make him a tough cover for Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and company.

What To Watch For: For the second straight game, the short-handed Magic will get to face another team far from full strength. The Raptors are a bad team, there’s no way to sugarcoat it. In addition to their poor efficiency numbers, they are 24th in rebounding rate (49.1). Reggie Evans, Joey Dorsey, Amir Johnson and Ed Davis are the only players who even seem to attempt to crash the boards and only Evans would really be considered a good rebounder (although Davis is doing a nice job as of late – he had 11 rebounds Saturday night in Chicago) . They’re without their top scorer (Bargnani), fourth-leading scorer (Linas Kleiza) and fifth leading scorer (Calderon). The Raptors are also playing on the second night of a back-to-back. Simply put, this is a game the Magic shouldn’t have a whole lot of trouble in.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080’s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).