Eager for restart, win over Nets
The Orlando Magic believe they’re a playoff team and they’re ready to prove it.
They’re ready for the NBA regular season to resume, ready to secure their second consecutive playoff berth and ready to reach a level that will have them playing well in the postseason.
The Magic see the restart as an opportunity, and they plan to take advantage of it.
“We’re going to play meaningful games here, which is what this is all about,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said.
Orlando begins its seeding play Friday against the Brooklyn Nets at the HP Field House. Tipoff is at 2:30 p.m. and the game will air on Fox Sports Florida.
Clifford has repeatedly called this stretch “the eight most important games we’ll play this season.”
Of course, how the Magic fare in the seeding games determines if they move on to what will become the most important games of the season — in the playoffs.
“We’re pushing each other to execute,” Magic forward James Ennis said. “Everybody’s really focused. We’re ready for Friday.”
The Magic will have to be. With only eight games left and a playoff spot to clinch, they have little time to waste.
Yet, the Magic understand they must embrace a sense of urgency without looking too far ahead. To do that, forward Aaron Gordon said they’ll treat each game like it’s the postseason.
“We play every game like it’s a playoff game, [with] that urgency, [and] that desperation that we need,” he said.
“We don’t want to be on that bubble and have that play-in with the Wizards.”
Orlando can take a big first step on Friday. If they beat the Nets, the Magic will move into seventh in the Eastern Conference standings.
Orlando was playing some of the best offensive basketball in the league prior to the shutdown, and Clifford said giving players more minutes was a big reason for the offensive surge. He said that minutes structure will be difficult to duplicate because of the abbreviated training camp and the compressed game schedule of the restart. The Magic will play eight games in a 15-day stretch.
“We’re just not in a place where guys are going to play eight games in 15 nights and play 36, [or] 37 minutes,” Clifford said. “We’ll put a lot of thought into it, but it will start with who can play and how many minutes can they play.”
Clifford said he’s looking at a 10- or 11-man rotation on Friday. While he didn’t specify who those players would be, Clifford said on Wednesday he would like to play point guard Markelle Fultz and forward Jonathan Isaac. They made their restart debuts in Monday’s final scrimmage, with Isaac seeing his first game action in nearly seven months.
Clifford said he’ll meet with high performance director David Tenney to “find out where he feels everybody’s at.”
Wes Iwundu likely won’t be available, according to Clifford. Iwundu entered the NBA’s concussion protocol after a fall Saturday against the Lakers.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, won’t resemble the team Orlando already has beaten twice this season.
The Nets’ roster is a shell of what it was before the shutdown after being hit hard by injuries and COVID-19. Brooklyn knew it wouldn’t have Kyrie Irving for the restart. He underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in February.
The Nets then lost reserve center Nicolas Claxton to an injury.
Then center DeAndre Jordan, guard Spencer Dinwiddie and forward Taurean Prince contracted COVID-19 and decided not to come to Orlando. Reserve forward Wilson Chandler chose to opt out of the restart because of COVID-19 concerns.
While the Magic will be unfamiliar with the bulk of the Nets’ roster, there will still be NBA players wearing the opposing uniforms. Clifford said his team must approach Friday’s opener no differently than any other game.
“To play a team in this league one time, as you know, the guys are so talented anybody can play well on a given night and win,” Clifford said. “So it’s going to be just like every other game. We’re going to have to be locked in to the right things, do a good job preparing and then you have to play well.”
Playing well is what the Magic plan to do.