Orlando Magic at Washington Wizards (Jan. 12, 2022): 3 Things To Watch, Odds and Prediction

The Orlando Magic hit the road for a three-game trip as they try to find their break through and snap a nine-game losing streak.

Orlando Magic (7-34) vs. Washington Wizards (21-20)

Time/TV: 7 p.m./Bally Sports Florida
WATCH MAGIC-WIZARDS ON FUBO TV
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Line via WynnBet: Wizards by 6.5
Tickets: $6-$294 on StubHub
2022 Season Series: Wizards 104, Magic 92 in Orlando on Nov. 13; Wizards 102, Magic 100 in Orlando on Jan. 9; Jan. 12 in Washington, D.C.; March 30 in Washington, D.C.

OMD Prediction

The Orlando Magic have been surprisingly optimistic considering the poor record they have and the seemingly cascading and poor situation they find themselves in. Injuries remain the dominant story with now Mo Bamba (sprained right toe) and Wendell Carter (sore left hamstring) both out for this game, leaving the Magic suddenly thin on the front line.

It is hard for a team like Orlando to overcome all these injuries. They will have to rely on the returning Robin Lopez for starter’s minutes and fill in the rest of the center rotation behind him. That will obviously be difficult for the team.

The Washington Wizards, for their part, are playing very well. Even with Bradley Beal out in health and safety protocols, Kyle Kuzma has been a scoring machine for them. And they are getting healthy again too with Montrezl Harrell and Thomas Bryant now both back in the fold, along with Rui Hachimura.

3 Keys To Watch

Injured frontcourt

The big story for the Orlando Magic came late in the morning when the team announced it was ruling out Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter with injuries. Just add them to the growing list of injured players — although it was encouraging to see video of every one of the Magic’s “usual five” injured players take the court during shootaround.

Losing Carter and Bamba though could prove to be a huge loss for the team and make it extremely difficult for the Magic to compete at a higher level. This is not just about the offensive stability Carter provides as something of a fulcrum offensively. He is also by far the best rebounder on the team.

Carter this season is posting a 29.6-percent defensive rebound rate. The next best on the team is Bamba at 23.6-percent. No other player on the current roster has a defensive rebound rate better than 20-percent. Presumed starting center Robin Lopez is at just 9.2-percent on defensive rebounds.

The Magic with Carter in the game post a 74.4-percent defensive rebound. With Carter out of the game, they post just a 69.8-percent rate. To say the least, this game will be won on the glass and Orlando has to limit second-chance opportunities and put extra emphasis on the boards to have a chance in this one.

Kuz Control

Kyle Kuzma turned in a stellar game when the teams met Sunday at the Amway Center, scoring 27 points and grabbing 22 rebounds. He followed that up with 29 points on 12-for-17 shooting in the Washington Wizards’ 122-118 win last night over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Kuzma has been on a tear recently though. This was not some isolated set of games. In his last eight games, he is averaging 26.6 points per game and grabbing 11.3 rebounds per game. He is doing this while shooting a 58.5-percent effective field goal percentage. He has scored at least 20 points in all eight of those games.

With Beal out, the Wizards will be leaning on Kuzma even more. And the team has no reason not to expect him to deliver at this point.

The sophomore wall

Cole Anthony has been a revelation this season as he has taken sizable leaps in his game and raised the ceiling of what many thought was possible for him, while also confirming everyone’s beliefs about him from his high school days. But to be sure, the next step was always going to be consistency and being able to get through the 82-game schedule.

The underrated thing about Anthony at this point is that this is his first full NBA season after both injuries and the shortened pandemic season cut short his preparations last year. Anthony might be hitting something that resembles a rookie wall, especially considering he is playing while recovering from sprained ankles to both of his feet.

Anthony has lost some of his efficient touch of late. He scored just 12 points on 4-for-17 shooting in the loss to the Wizards on Sunday. And surely even a half-strong shooting performance from him would have helped the team win the game.

Anthony though has seen a general downturn.

He has not had a 50.0-percent field goal percentage in any individual game since the loss to the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 8. In that month — with two medium absences due to injury — Anthony is averaging 18.6 points per game but is shooting just 34.2-percent from the floor overall and a 41.3-percent effective field goal percentage. His overall effective field goal percentage has dipped below 50-percent.

The Magic need to get Anthony back to shooting efficiently and effectively to have a chance in these games as one of the team’s main offensive drivers. That is exceedingly tough. Right now, Orlando has no choice but to keep the ball in his hands and see if he can shoot his way out of this.