Off the back of four consecutive defeats, the Orlando Magic will set out to get their season back on track against the Portland Trail Blazers in Friday's meeting at Amway Center.
This is the first of two scheduled meetings for the campaign between the sides that will do battle once again at the Moda Center to draw the curtain on January.
Match preview
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Aiming to bounce back from a home loss to the Denver Nuggets, the Orlando Magic saw their downward spiral continue following a disappointing 109-93 defeat against the Toronto Raptors in Wednesday's affair at the Scotiabank Arena.
A fast start saw Jamahl Mosley's men storm to a 13-point lead after the first quarter to put themselves in the driving seat before the Raptors came roaring back in the subsequent three quarters which they won by 29 points.
Despite boasting the top two scorers of the contest in Paolo Banchero and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, with 26 and 20 points respectively, the Magic were largely handicapped by the offensive contribution from the rest of the team, who tallied a combined 47 points.
From seemingly in a position to cruise to the postseason, the Magic have now dropped outside the automatic playoff places to seventh, having played the joint-most games of any Eastern Conference outfit alongside the New York Knicks (45).
With games against the Miami Heat (eighth) and the Detroit Pistons (ninth) to come after Friday's affair, the home side will need to get their act together as soon as possible to avoid losing further ground in the playoff race.
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The Portland Trail Blazers recorded consecutive victories for the first time since the turn of the year by getting the better of the Miami Heat in a 116-107 triumph at the Kaseya Center on Wednesday morning.
With all five starters and two bench players reaching double digits for points, Chauncey Billups's side put on an outstanding collective team effort to recover from an early deficit and outscore their opponents 63-37 over the next two quarters.
Deandre Ayton recorded by far his most impressive outing of the campaign so far as he notched a 22-point, 15-rebound double-double on 11-14 shooting from the field to go along with two assists and one steal.
While the Trail Blazers remain well shy of playoff contention in the Western Conference, they have now closed the gap on the Phoenix Suns in 10th place to six wins just above the midway point of the campaign.
Going up against an opposing side that have given up the second-fewest points per game so far (104.4), Friday's visitors will need to be at their attacking best if they are to make it three wins on the bounce.
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Team News
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The Orlando Magic have a lengthy injury list for this one, headlined by Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner, who are ruled out with oblique and knee injuries respectively.
Jonathan Isaac lasted just five minutes in the defeat to the Raptors due to an illness and is expected to miss out on Friday, while Jett Howard and Gary Harris are currently nursing ankle and hamstring problems.
Jalen Suggs (back), Cole Anthony (illness) and Goga Bitadze (concussion) were all absent last time out, making them huge doubts to play any part for the home side here.
Australia international Matisse Thybulle is out with an ankle problem and will be re-evaluated over the next week to determine his availability to return to action.
Rookie Donovan Clingan is also expected to miss out for the away side due to a left ankle sprain, although the 20-year-old is not far off making his comeback.
Orlando Magic possible starting five:
Black, Caldwell-Pope; Da Silva, Banchero; Carter Jr.
Portland Trail Blazers possible starting five:
Simons, Henderson; Grant, Avdija; Ayton
We say: Magic to win by 5+ points
The Orlando Magic could really do with a victory in this one off the back of a tough run of results which should give the Trail Blazers every reason to believe they can come out on top.
While we expect the away side to put up a decent fight, we are backing the home side to get the job done in the end.
Adepoju Marvellous
