Orlando Magic: 5 under the radar home games

Orlando Magic: 5 under-the-radar games

November 25 vs. Chicago Bulls

Along the hallway between the visiting and home locker rooms at the Amway Center is a wall filled with photos of the best players in team history. It is a good mix of current players along with the franchise’s legend.

The current players’ photos are always in color. The visiting players’ photos are hued in black and white.

Fans have not had the opportunity to walk down this hallway with the pandemic limiting access to the event level. But there is still a tinge of sadness that Nikola Vucevic’s photo is no longer in color. The trade is very real.

November 25 will be the first time the Orlando Magic play Vucevic and the Chicago Bulls at the Amway Center during the regular season. It will mark Vucevic’s first trip back to Orlando since last February’s trade — the two teams played in a Magic win in Chicago last year after the deadline.

It will be interesting to see what kind of tribute the team plays for him before the game begins and to see how he plays in the stadium.

It should also be an exciting and interesting game.

The Bulls had one of the busiest offseasons in the NBA acquiring Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, and Alex Caruso. They are pushing all in to make the playoffs with their two All-Stars — Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic — as the centerpieces.

It will be an intriguing matchup.

Franz Wagner is going to be the player to watch in this matchup. The eighth overall pick was drafted by Orlando to be a defensive anchor at the small forward position. They are going to need him to be exactly that in this game.

What will be interesting is to see who Wagner defends. Would Orlando trust the rookie to guard former All-Star wing DeMar DeRozan? Or would he match up with energetic rookie Patrick Williams?

It would also be interesting to see how Jalen Suggs matches up with Lonzo Ball. Suggs plays a very aggressive style of defense which could theoretically disrupt his style of play.

This game is going to be running high on emotions. Orlando fans might feel bittersweet seeing a Bulls team that built around Vucevic and Zach Lavine pushing for a high playoff seed.

A good performance by the Magic in this contest will prove that moving on from their core was the right decision by the franchise.