The Orlando Magic will have to decide whether their new look can produce wins when they visit the reeling Sacramento Kings and hope to end a four-game losing streak Tuesday night.
The Magic had season-highs in offensive rebounds and 3-point field goal attempts Saturday when their short-handed roster took the host Golden State Warriors to overtime before suffering a 126-119 defeat.
Orlando turned 24 offensive rebounds into 33 second-chance points and 54 shots from beyond the arc into 54 points, allowing it to nearly end a Golden State winning streak despite missing Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Jalen Suggs and Jonathan Isaac.
Bane is the only one of the four who could possibly return to face the Kings. He’s had two days off in the Northern California sun to help cure an illness that shelved him in San Francisco. The other three players have been ruled out.
The Magic, a below-average (34.2%) 3-point-shooting team, misfired on 36 of their 54 attempts against the Warriors, but coach Sean Sweeney loved the way eight different Orlando players hustled down misses and created second and sometimes even third cracks at the hoop.
“A number of guys did a great job getting on the boards,” he told reporters after the game. “We saw a number of guys crashing from the perimeter the way we want them to. We gotta keep that up. The more opportunities and bites at the apple you get, the more chances you’ve got to get something done.”
Wendell Carter Jr. had six of his 11 rebounds and Tristan da Silva five of his seven on the offensive glass. The team total of 24 was nine more than Orlando had in any previous game this season, and 21 more than the Warriors managed.
Led by rebound-gobbling Domantas Sabonis (14.6 per game), the Kings have been stingy at allowing opponents second opportunities this season, having given up an average of just 10.4 offensive rebounds a game. That was the third-fewest in the NBA at the start of play Monday.
But Sacramento has struggled defending the perimeter, allowing 37.9% conversions on 3-pointers, the fifth-highest success rate in the league.
The Kings allowed the Miami Heat to shoot 18-for-43 from deep in Sunday’s 114-108 home loss. But they did outrebound the visitors 44-36 on a night when Sabonis was unable to play because of a sore left knee.
The injury is not considered to be serious, and the standout center has a good chance to return against the Magic. A decision will be made after pregame warmups.
Sacramento was able to get forward Keegan Murray back from a left-ankle capsulitis injury against the Heat. Following a seven-game absence, he was called upon to play 23 minutes off the bench, but struggled offensively and contributed just 10 points.
Murray, who has played just three times alongside star rookie Darius Acuff Jr., looks forward to being able to help the 19-year-old, and vice versa.
“It’s going to take me a couple games to get back into playing shape,” he noted to reporters before the Miami game. “I just feel good to be able to play again. For me, it’s just being able to be out there and be available; that’s the biggest thing for me.”
Murray, however, was listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game due to right wrist soreness on Monday’s injury report.
Acuff, the league’s top-scoring rookie at 25.9 points per game, had 32 points and 10 assists in the loss, which was Sacramento’s third straight.
