The struggling Los Angeles Clippers continue a season-long seven-game road trip on Thursday when they visit the rejuvenated Orlando Magic.
Orlando, which endured a rocky start to the season while losing four of its first five games, comes into Thursday’s contest a winner in four of the last five. The Magic rebounded from their lone hiccup in that stretch, a 117-113 overtime loss at Houston on Sunday, with a 121-113 victory at home over Golden State on Tuesday.
Desmond Bane stepped up in the continued absence of Paolo Banchero, scoring 23 points with five steals. Anthony Black added 21 points off the bench, providing additional offensive punch on a night when season-long leading scorer Franz Wagner shot just 7 of 17 from the floor and 0-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Wagner, who is averaging 22.8 points per game, did finish with 18 on Tuesday. Banchero is Orlando’s second-leading scorer for the season at 21.7 points per game but missed the last three contests due to a groin injury.
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said that Banchero has progressed to “non-contact” drills with the team and “hard weight-room workouts with (Orlando’s) training staff.”
Jalen Suggs, who was questionable ahead of the matchup with Golden State due to a groin injury, made the start and finished with 13 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals. Suggs’ 1.6 steals per game lead an Orlando defense that ranked seventh in the NBA with 113.9 points allowed, heading into Wednesday’s NBA play.
The scoring yield is up from last season’s league-leading 105.5 points allowed per game, but over their last six contests the Magic are holding teams to 109.7 points per game.
On offense, Orlando’s scoring average is up more than 10 points from last season’s 105.4 points a contest to 115.9.
“We’ve talked about being able to defend (in order) to get run; making our defense to fuel our offense,” Mosley said. “Being able to push the basketball after stops and turnovers and blocked shots, I don’t know if there’s one moment that it clicks, but these guys just continue to work.”
The Clippers come into Orlando on the opposite trajectory, having dropped eight of their last nine. Los Angeles began its seven-game road odyssey with a 133-127, double-overtime win at Dallas on Friday, ending a six-game skid, but dropped the last two in Boston and Philadelphia.
With the 121-118 loss against the Celtics on Sunday, and 110-108 setback against the 76ers on Monday, the Clippers have dropped four one-possession contests this season.
“Defensively, we are getting better,” Los Angeles coach Tyronn Lue said following Monday’s loss. “We have some breakdowns here and there. Offensively, just continue to keep trusting.”
The Clippers have faced a recent rash of high-profile injuries, including the loss of Bradley Beal to season-ending hip surgery. Kawhi Leonard started the campaign strong with 24.1 points per game over the first six, but has missed the last eight with an ankle and foot injury.
Lue said last week the injury was “nothing serious,” and Leonard is listed as day-to-day.
A bright spot for Los Angeles amid its struggles has been the play of James Harden. The six-time first-team All-NBA selection is averaging 26.2 points, 8.7 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game. He is shooting 43.6% from the floor and 37.6% from 3-point range. He is seventh in the NBA with 3.6 3-pointers made per game.
In Monday’s loss, Harden became the 11th player in NBA history to score at least 28,000 career points.
