Magic-Grizzlies Preview

The Orlando Magic (7-11) will continue their west coast road trip tonight as they head to Memphis to take on the injury depleted Grizzles.

Last Time Out

The Orlando Magic are coming off a big victory in San Antonio, upsetting the Spurs 95-83.  The Magic are hoping to add to their winning streak and ascend in the Eastern Conference standings. The Magic’s victory snapped a 9 game losing streak for the Magic in San Antonio. The Memphis Grizzles (11-8) meanwhile are coming off a loss to the Toronto Raptors 120-105. The Grizzlies will look to end their losing streak at two.

Vogel’s Magic

The Magic are currently 7-11 and rank 11th in the Eastern Conference; 3 spots behind the Knicks, Pacers and Bucks for the eighth seed.The team is in a state of transition as Frank Vogel, formerly coach of the Indiana Pacers, is just in his first year. Coach Vogel continues to make changes to the lineup including starting recently signed Bismack Biyombo over star center Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic has expressed his displeasure with coming off the bench. Despite the demotion, Vucevic is still averaging 30 minutes and putting up solid numbers with 12.1 ppg 11.6 rpg and 2.4 apg. Vucevic will be motivated to make his mark in tonight’s matchup. Power forward Serge Ibaka, who came over from Oklahoma in the Victor Oladipo trade, will look to make his mark as well. Ibaka has been averaging 14.6 ppg 6.7 rpg and 1.6 bpg so far this season.

Short-handed Memphis

The Memphis Grizzles have an 11-8 record which sits them at 6th in the Western Conference. The Memphis Grizzlies made 2 big splashes in free agency during the off season: Mike Conley was signed to the biggest contract in NBA history with a 5 year 153 million dollar contract and Chandler Parsons was signed to a 4 year, 94.8 million dollar contract. Both players are on the shelf currently.  Mike Conley is expected to miss 6 weeks with a transverse process fracture in his vertebrae. Chandler Parsons is dealing with a left knee bone bruise and is to be reevaluated in two weeks. Memphis head coach David Fizdale will look for veterans like Mark Gasol and Zach Randolph to rally the troops and lead the Grizzlies to victory. Gasol is averaging 16.6 ppg 7.0 rpg and 3.7 apg while Randolph is averaging  14.2 ppg 7.9 rpg and 1.3 bpg.

Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. in Memphis

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