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GAME INFO
Who: Orlando Magic at Houston Rockets
What: 2020-2021 Regular Season Game 9
When: Friday, January 8 at 8pm ET
Where: Toyota Center in Houston, TX
How: Fox Sports Florida, NBA League Pass, 96.9 The Game FM (Radio)

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GAMBLING
Magic +6.5
Over/Under 221.5

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
None

ORLANDO MAGIC PROJECTED STARTERS

G: Cole Anthony


G: Dwayne Bacon


F: James Ennis


F: Gary Clark


C: Nikola Vucevic


ORLANDO MAGIC PROJECTED BENCH

G: Jordan Bone


G: Terrence Ross


C: Khem Birch


Deep Bench
G: Karim Mane (two way)
C: Mo Bamba



Injuries: Jonathan Isaac (knee), Al-Farouq Aminu (knee), Chuma Okeke (knee), Markelle Fultz (knee), Michael Carter-Williams (foot) and Aaron Gordon (hamstring/rest) are all OUT. Evan Fournier (back) is QUESTIONABLE.

Houston Projected Starters
G: John Wall
G: James Harden
F: David Nwaba
F: PJ Tucker
C: DeMarcus Cousins

Bench
G: Eric Gordon
G: Sterling Brown
F: Jae'Sean Tate

Injuries: Chris Clemons (achillies), Danuel House Jr. (back), Mason Jones (ankle) and Brodric Thomas (ankle) are OUT. Ben McLemore (COVID/Conditioning), Kenyon Martin Jr. (COVID/Conditioning) and Christian Wood (knee) are QUESTIONABLE.

So No Evan and no AG?

Stealth tank it is!!!!

Good luck Cole, against Wall you are gonna need it. But if you come out of this not backing down.. you have a future with us.

I'd rather they start Birch, keep Clark on the bench.
Give Mo the backup 5 minutes.

It's really good news that AG is getting the night off. We should've been resting players all along. Wouldn't be surprised if they don't rest Vuc soon also.

I think the injuries to MCW and Fultz were a wake up call, after running them 3 days in a row.

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Will be fun to see Cole fight...I was at Elfrid's rookie season opener and Wall just seemed to be punishing him...pressing, picking his pocket...We'll see if (1) Wall still has the juice to do it (2) The heart Cole brings to it.

Yeesh, that starting lineup.

that lineup...

Tell Cole he has the license to score plus the occasional pass to Vuc and Ross. Wanna see him being the first rookie of his batch to score 50.

Shock the world Orlando lol. In all seriousness, Cole Anthony and Jordan Bone get a baptism by fire tonight at the PG position which has me very interested in tonight's game. Really bummed about Markelle but life goes on. We now get a legit look at Cole Anthony and he will either sink or swim this season. What I like about the kid that does not show up on the stat sheets is that he competes on both ends and plays with a great attitude. He just needs to adjust to NBA speed which he will get in spades tonight against John Wall who has looked really good so far this season. Have to keep James Harden off the line at all costs and do our best to keep him in front of us and not allow him to dictate how the game goes (easier said than done).

Need big games from Vuc and Ross tonight. I really get the fans who do want to tank but damn it is hard for me to just actively see this team lose. Besides that is probably going to naturally happen anyways. Might as well hope that Cole can exceed expectations and Vuc, Ross and AG can elevate this team this year.

The only thing I am really interested to see is Cole Anthony's development. He's going to quite literally get all the minutes he can handle.

I want to see if he can figure things out over time.

This feels like a demolition waiting to happen.

Good luck Cole, give em hell!

Knightro wrote:

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Vuc likes to feast on these kinds of Centers... wonder if he shows up or will he be like "naaah taking the night off"

I just hope Cole doesnt lose confidence. Cause hes gonna get worked tonight

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Fournier is going to warm up and see how the back feels. If he can play he will start at the 2 and Bacon will start at the 3.

If he can't, then Ennis will start.

I think we should just lose this game.. Let Vuc and Evan warm up say 5-10mins then sit them. Bacon and Ennis maybe 15 or so minutes jsust to prep them for tom. Let Cole Mane Bamba go lights out

Is this AG injury management stealth tanking?

RookieStar wrote:So No Evan and no AG?

Stealth tank it is!!!!

Good luck Cole, against Wall you are gonna need it. But if you come out of this not backing down.. you have a future with us.

I don’t get the vibe that Cole backs down from anyone. That’s what’s really made like this kid, house competitiveness. Wall Could get the best of him but he fights.
Hopefully Vooch takes advantage of CW.. although he’s a good player in his own right.

Ducklett wrote:Is this AG injury management stealth tanking?

It's a hard schedule and they probably don't want AG to get a severe injury. We just lost MCW and Fultz after working them 3 days in a row.

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Oof. Gonna be a rough game if Vuc, Ross, and Anthony don't play lights out. Maybe Bacon as well.