“Aaron practiced and looked fine, so I’m expecting him to play,” coach Frank Vogel said.
Josh Robbins
As expected, the Magic's injury report lists point guard Elfrid Payton (hamstring strain) as out for tomorrow's game against Brooklyn.
Orlando is 61-46 all-time vs. the Nets (34-18 at home, 2-8 at Brooklyn, 23-20 at New Jersey, 2-0 at
Tokyo, Japan) during regular season play, including 0-1 this season. Orlando was 2-1 last season against
the Nets. The Magic have won six of their last eight meetings with Brooklyn and won 23 of the last 38 matchups overall with the
Nets. The Magic have won 15 of the last 19 matchups in Orlando, but lost eight of their ten trips to Brooklyn
“That game taught us a lot,” Vogel said. “Brooklyn’s for real this year. It’s a completely different team in my mind. They’re a hard-charging team, leading the league in points per game right now . . . We got a firsthand look at how difficult they are to guard the other night, and we’re going to have to put our defensive hard hat on to win this game tomorrow night. It’s not going to be an easy game.”
"It’s a tough style to go against if you’re not (making 3-pointers),’’ Vogel said. ``So we’re encouraging (3-point shooting) as long as they are open ones. If we can sustain our pace and our ball movement from early on, hopefully we’ll make enough (3-point) shots to win.’’
``That’s incredible! Going from the bottom-two to the top-two (in 3 pointers made), that’s unreal,’’ shooting guard Terrence Ross said after Monday’s practice prep. ``But it’s kind a testament to (the offseason work) because everybody here has been trying to get their shot right. It’s paying off.’’
``Our ball movement, passing and decision-making the first three games have been good,’’ Vogel said. ``We’ve been able to reward that passing with some shot-making and hopefully it continues. Obviously, you’re not going to make 17 threes every night, so you just have to make sure that every night you are improving in all areas.’’
``It’s just the will to win and guys are doing whatever it takes to win games,’’ Simmons said of the Magic’s ball movement to find open shooters. ``It’s only three games, so in about 15 more we’ll see where we are in the standings.’’
Aaron Gordon needs 5 points to reach 2,000 career points.
Evan Fournier needs 8 threes to pass Scott Skiles for 10th on Magic's all-time list.
Nikola Vucevic needs 10 blocks for 5th all-time.
THIS DATE IN MAGIC HISTORY – OCTOBER 24...
October 24, 2014 – The Orlando Magic signed center Nikola Vučević to a contract extension.
October 24, 1995 – Shaquille O’Neal broke his thumb in a preseason game against Miami. O’Neal missed the first 22 games of
the season, but Orlando went 17-5, as Anfernee Hardaway was named the league’s Player of the Month.
