When: January 8, 2016; 7:30 PM EST
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network
Radio: CBS 880 AM
When a team hasn’t won a home game in almost a month, it’s not likely the last 30 days went too well for said team, and that certainly applies to the 2015-16 Brooklyn Nets. They’ll try to snap a eight-game Barclays Center losing streak tonight against the Orlando Magic, who have lost their last four games overall.
Brooklyn’s last win at home was on December 10th against the Philadelphia 76ers, which feels like worlds ago at this point. Since that game, the Nets have gone 3-10, with wins on the road against the Bulls, Heat and Celtics, all of whom are probable playoff teams. Try to figure this team out, I dare you.
The Magic haven’t exactly been lighting it up lately either, as Orlando — in Scott Skiles’ first season as head coach — has lost four straight games since beating the Nets down in Florida on December 30th. They have yet to win a game in 2016 and are still without the services of starting point guard Elfrid Payton, who won’t play for the third consecutive game due to an ankle injury.
Payton, in his second year out of Louisiana-Lafayette, played only five minutes in Orlando’s victory over the Nets due to the nagging ankle problem, which worsened in the games following. He’s averaging 11 points and six assists per contest this season, both comparable numbers to those of his rookie campaign, but has improved his three-point shooting over five full percentage points (to over 31 percent) and his free throw shooting by almost nine.
Even with their recent swoon, the Magic are still 19-17 and currently hold the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference thanks to the play of noted Net-killer Nikola Vucevic (16.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest), surprise breakout guard Evan Fournier (13.9 points) and Long Island native Tobias Harris (13.8 points and 7.1 rebounds), as well as Victor Oladipo (12.8 points). Orlando has a roster full of talented young scorers that have actually been pretty good on defense too, as the Magic hold opponents to just 99.1 points per game, which is good for ninth-best in the NBA.
Probable lineups
ORL- Victor Oladipo (PG), Evan Fournier (SG), Tobias Harris (SF), Channing Frye (PF), Nikola Vucevic (C)
BKN- Shane Larkin (PG), Bojan Bogdanovic (SG), Joe Johnson (SF), Thaddeus Young (PF), Brook Lopez (C)
Final thoughts
Obviously, a young and athletic team like the Magic poses a bunch of problems for the older and more speed-challenged Nets. But, Brooklyn was able to hang with and actually lead Orlando for most of the game back in December and, save for another late-game collapse, probably would have won. Now, though, Jarrett Jack is out, so it’s up to Shane Larkin and Donald Sloan to try and will this offense to its personal unicorn: a home win.
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