- How To Watch: FanDuel Sports Network Florida (Orlando), FanDuel Sports Netowrk Southwest (San Antonio), NBA League Pass
- STREAM MAGIC-SPURS ON FUBO TV
- How to Listen: WYGM 96.9 FM/740 AM (Orlando), WOAI/KXTN (San Antonio), NBA Audio League Pass, SiriusXM Channel 212 (Magic)
- FOLLOW LIVE: @OMAGICDAILY
- Tickets: $56-$586+ on StubHub
- Season Series: Tonight in Orlando; April 1 in San Antonio
San Antonio Spurs vs. Orlando Magic: Stats and 3 Keys to Watch
San Antonio | Orlando | |
|---|---|---|
100.0 | Pace | 96.6 |
112.2 | Off. Rtg. | 107.0 |
114.0 | Def. Rtg. | 108.9 |
53.7 | eFG% | 50.2 |
28.4 | O.Reb.% | 30.4 |
14.3 | TO% | 15.1 |
23.8 | FTR | 26.9 |
3. Home Cooking
The Orlando Magic enjoy playing at the Kia Center and have made that well-known. A raucous Kia Center crowd energizes them. Orlando has a record that matches—its 15-9 record is the 12th-best in the league, and it still has loads of home games remaining.
The Magic's season may come down to how they perform in the next three weeks when they play 10 of 11 games at home. Everything is better at Kia Center.
Orlando has a 108.7 offensive rating at Kia Center, nearly two points per 100 possessions better than the team's overall average (still in the bottom five in the league for home offensive ratings). The team has a 105.8 defensive rating at home (more than three points per 100 possessions better than the team's already-stellar average).
More importantly, the Magic shoot 31.8 percent from three. That is at least better than the 30.2 percent they shoot overall.
Everything feels a little better at home. The Magic hope that home lifts their spirits after a dificult road trip.
2. Fox arrives
There was certainly a cohort of Orlando Magic fans who hoped the Magic would be the ones to amass the assets to acquire De'Aaron Fox at the trade deadline. They felt like he would give the team an injection of pace and playmaking the Magic need so desperately.
Fox ended up in San Antonio though. That was someplace he wanted to go to play with Victor Wembanyama. And he has already made a huge impact, as expected.
Fox has scored 46 points and dished out 19 assists in two games with the Spurs. He is shooting 20 for 39 (51.3 percent). The Spurs' offensive rating has jumped to a 118.6 points per 100 possessions, although the defense is still a work in progress. It is just two games.
The Spurs are still learning Fox just as Fox is still learning his new team. But the potential is hard to ignore.
1. The 3-point shooting need
Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman typically plays coy when asked about the team's shooting struggles. He will pitch some stat that contours the situation just right enough to not be terrible.
He may still be doing that—the team has seen several players go through career lows, something Weltman said he has never seen in his career. But even had admitted publicly the Magic's 3-point shooting woes are a major concern.
But Weltman (and this is spin) points out the Magic have not needed elite shooting to compete. They just need to be passable.
The stats back that up. When the Magic shoot 33 percent from three, they are 15-4. The Magic are 10-0 when they shoot 36 percent or better from three.
Really Orlando just has to be passable on three. But it makes you wonder what this team could do with more consistent 3-point shooting.
San Antonio Spurs vs. Orlando Magic: Injury Report & Projected Lineups
San Antonio Spurs Injury Report (from Friday)
- Charles Bassey - OUT (Left MCL Sprain)
- David Duke Jr. - OUT (G-League Two-Way)
- Harrison Ingram - OUT (G-League Two-Way)
- Riley Minix - OUT (G-League Two-Way)
Orlando Magic Injury Report
- Jalen Suggs - DOUBTFUL (Left Quad Contusion)
- Moe Wagner - OUT (Left Torn ACL)
- Mac McClung - OUT (G-League Two-Way)
Projected Lineups
San Antonio | Orlando | |
|---|---|---|
Chris Paul | PG | Cole Anthony |
De'Aaron Fox | SG | Kentavious Caldwell-Pope |
Devin Vassell | SF | Franz Wagner |
Harrison Barnes | PF | Paolo Banchero |
Victor Wembanyama | C | Goga Bitadze |
San Antonio Spurs vs. Orlando Magic: Prediction
Our Record: 30-23/25-28 ATS
The Orlando Magic appear to be playing better. They had a strong fourth quarter -- and really three quarters minus the third—in the loss to the Golden State Warriors. They followed that up with a 130-point breakthrough in Sacramento against the Sacramento Kings. And until fatigue bit them in the latter part of the second quarter, they were in the fight in a tough back-to-back in Denver against the Denver Nuggets.
These are all almosts though. The Magic went 1-5 on this six-game road trip. Only three of those games were truly competitive and gave the Magic a chance to win. There is not a lot of confidence around the Magic right now and the team never seems to know what to expect from its top two players. That is still a tough place to be.
Being at home should help the Magic. Playing against a San Antonio Spurs team that lost on a last-second shot and had to expend a lot of energy in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets last night will help.
But right now, it is hard to have a lot of confidence in the Magic. They have scored 100 points in just three of their last 11 games. It is hard to win when you cannot score.
Until the Magic string together a few solid offensive games, they are going to struggle to compete even if they try to slow the pace down and muck the game up with their defense.