Orlando Magic at Sacramento Kings (Dec. 8, 2021): 3 Things To Watch, Odds and Prediction
The Orlando Magic try to put their poor game against the Golden State Warriors behind them and bounce back against the Sacramento Kings.
Orlando Magic (5-20) at Sacramento Kings (10-14)
Time/TV: 10 p.m./Bally Sports Florida
WATCH MAGIC-KINGS ON FUBO TV
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Line via WynnBet: Kings by 7
Tickets: $22-$456 on StubHub
2022 Season Series: Tonight in Sacramento; March 26 in Orlando
| Pace | Off. Rtg. | Def. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando | 99.3 | 101.2 | 111.8 | 49.0 | 26.3 | 15.6 | 22.0 |
| Sacramento | 100.0 | 108.5 | 111.1 | 51.3 | 27.9 | 14.1 | 25.6 |
OMD Prediction
The Orlando Magic were playing well with some clear faults heading into Monday’s game against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are almost their own thing, but the Magic really let go of the rope in a 31-point loss.
Unfortunately, big losses like that have not been uncommon for the Magic this year. They have lost a lot of games by that margin. The question for today is how do they bounce back?
After a 26-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Orlando Magic laid another egg in a 25-point loss to the New York Knicks. But they followed that with a six-point win over the Knicks on the road. The Orlando Magic followed a 33-point loss to the Brooklyn Nets with a 12-point loss to the Washington Wizards. And then a 31-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks with a seven-point loss to the Charlotte Hornets and a 35-point loss to the Chicago Bulls with a 13-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That does not say a lot. The losses to the Wizards and Cavaliers were fairly competitive except for a brief lull that this team has fallen prey to. And in both of those games, the Magic improved on what cost them the previous game.
How the Magic respond tonight will be key. Orlando can refocus itself. The question is whether the team can muster up the consistency to win.
38. 105. 84. Prediction. 101
3 Keys To Watch
Still on turnovers
Turnovers have been the drum everyone has been beating for the last week. It is hard to ignore it after the Orlando Magic turned the ball over 23 times for 38 points in the loss to the Golden State Warriors. As Gary Harris put it after the game, that was the game right there. Orlando simply cannot give possessions away with how difficult the team finds it to score consistently.
For the season, the Magic are 27th in the league with a 15.6-percent turnover rate. Orlando is still surprisingly doing well in preventing points of turnovers — 16.9 points per game good for 19th in the league even after Monday’s difficult games. So this remains more an opportunity cost than anything else.
Orlando will have to do better protecting the ball. Fortunately, the Sacramento Kings are not good at forcing turnovers. They force a turnover rate of 13.5 points per game. But they do score off those turnovers — a little more than 16 points per game off turnovers. So the Magic will have to continue to limit their mistakes.
Cole vs. Fox
One tweet over the last few days has started to set Orlando Magic Twitter on fire comparing Cole Anthony with De’Aaron Fox.
The numbers (since I cannot find the tweet): Anthony is averaging 19.6 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game and 5.7 assists per game with a 50.0-percent effective field goal percentage. Fox is averaging 20.1 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game and 5.5 assists per game with a 46.1-percent effective field goal percentage.
The Kings seem ripe for change after they have struggled again to stay in the playoff picture. The pressure seems to be turning up on Fox and there is the potential the team could make a trade — Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes also remain potential trade chips should the Kings decide to hit reset again.
No one here should be ready to say Anthony is a better player than Fox. Orlando has experienced firsthand just how good Fox can be. Fox has singlehandedly won games against the Magic. Anthony still has to show a lot more consistency to get on Fox’s level. But the comparison is interesting and shows the circles Anthony has started traveling in as his season continues.
Attention for Gary Harris
Orlando Magic fans have taken to blaming Gary Harris for a lot of the team’s woes and rotation decisions. They may not be completely wrong. But it does feed into the usual narrative for young teams. Harris is the “veteran taking minutes away from the young players.” It is probably overplayed.
And Harris should get kudos when he is doing something good. There is reason to believe Harris is starting to round into better form. In his last five games, Harris is averaging 13.2 points per game with a 61.7-percent effective field goal percentage. That is more in line with what the Magic were hoping to get from Harris.
Next. 3 things the Orlando Magic have learned so far. dark
That should not erase some of the negative things he is doing at all. Harris is having a nice five-game spurt. But there is still a lot more he should be doing, particularly defensively and with his consistency. Harris though should get credit for playing well of late. The question, like with all things, is how things develop into consistency or whether it wanes.