The Orlando Magic ride a four-game winning streak into their NBA Cup East Group A matchup at home on Friday with the visiting Philadelphia 76ers.
Orlando dropped five straight, including the first four of the eight games All-Star forward Paolo Banchero has missed due to a torn right oblique. The Magic have regrouped amid a four-game homestand, which concludes with Friday’s NBA Cup contest.
In all four wins of the streak, Orlando held its opponents to 94 points or fewer, including the 89 the Magic gave up in a 25-point victory over Charlotte to open NBA Cup play on Tuesday.
Orlando limited the Hornets to 34-of-84 shooting from the floor and forced them into 22 turnovers. The Magic followed that up on Wednesday by holding Indiana to 32-of-84 shooting from the floor with 16 turnovers in a 94-90 Orlando win.
“So proud of this group,” coach Jamahl Mosley said of the Magic’s defensive tenacity. “We talk about how much grit this team is. You see how connected they are. … That’s part of this league, and part of growth of a group that’s finding ways to win.”
Along with Orlano’s defensive effort, Franz Wagner’s offensive production has been a consistent theme on this run. He enters Friday’s contest averaging 27.8 points during the win streak after Wednesday’s 29-point effort.
Goga Bitadze has also come up big for Orlando. His 12-point, 12-rebound performance on Wednesday marked his third double-double since Nov. 6.
“He gave us that spark. Got a little chippy, but we’re OK with that, and he’s OK with that,” Mosley said of Bitadze. “He plays with that little bit of edge.”
Bitadze’s assignment on Friday includes slowing down former Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid, who returned to the 76ers’ lineup for the first time this season on Tuesday.
Philadelphia was without Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George for the second leg of a back-to-back on Wednesday, however. The Sixers dropped their seventh game in the last eight outings with a 114-106 home loss to undefeated Cleveland.
Wednesday’s setback followed a 111-99 defeat in Philadelphia’s NBA Cup group-play opener vs. New York on Tuesday.
Embiid scored 13 points on just 2-of-11 shooting in his season debut. With Embiid and George resting and Maxey nursing a strained a hamstring strain until at least the end of the week, rookie Jared McCain went for career highs of 34 points and 10 assists against Cleveland.
“It’s a tribute to my work. I work so hard, I feel like I need these games,” McCain said. “I’m starting to learn more being a lead guard. In college, I feel like I was more off-ball. So it’s definitely a learning process there.
“I’m finding my shot, whether it’s the mid-range, getting to the rim or obviously shooting the (3-pointer).”
Sixers coach Nick Nurse suggested McCain’s play could earn the first-year guard a prominent role even after Embiid, George and Maxey are available.
“He’s certainly played his way into the whole mix for sure,” Nurse said. “Responded well to his start, but he’s got to be a candidate playing this well to get into the lineup.”
Fellow Sixers rookie Adem Bona also earned Nurse’s praise for his nine-rebound effort off the bench vs. Cleveland.
–Field Level Media
