In-state counterparts meet for the first of two games in five days when the Miami Heat visit the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Orlando and Miami draw each other in next Tuesday’s quarterfinal round of the NBA Cup. The Magic went 4-0 in East Group B play and the Heat finished 3-1 in East Group C.
Before then, Friday’s matchup is the second of the regular season between two teams separated by only one win in the Eastern Conference standings.
Orlando beat Miami 125-121 in the season opener on Oct. 22 behind 71 combined points from Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane. Banchero (groin) is questionable for this matchup.
The win over the Heat was a bright spot in the Magic’s rocky start to the campaign, but since going 3-5 over the first eight, Orlando is 10-4 with three separate three-game winning streaks.
The most recent of those stretches ended Wednesday with a 114-112 nail-biting loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Playing its 10th consecutive game with Banchero sidelined due to a groin strain, Orlando got 25 points from Wagner and 24 from Jalen Suggs, who fouled out in the final minute.
The Magic could not weather 31 points from De’Aaron Fox — whose pair of free throws broke a last-second tie — in their first home loss since Nov. 9.
“We need to look at exactly what it is we’re trying to accomplish in these games and realize we can’t turn it on and off,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “It’s not a light switch.”
After being outscored 58-49 in the first half on Wednesday, the Magic seek a faster start on Friday against a Miami team looking to get back into a groove.
The Heat won six straight from Nov. 17-26 but went on to drop two of their last three, including a 118-108 setback in Dallas on Wednesday.
Miami surrendered 16-of-32 shooting from 3-point range in the loss to the Mavericks, a vast departure from the paltry 32.6% mark the Heat’s opponents have managed from behind the arc throughout the season.
That success rate is the third-lowest in the NBA even though the Heat face the most 3-point attempts per game (42.5).
“We just have to make sure where nights maybe aren’t flowing as easily … we’re still locking in on the defensive end so we can quiet those runs better,” guard Dru Smith told reporters following Wednesday’s loss.
The Heat played at a torrid pace through the first 22 games, resulting in opponents scoring 118.4 points per game — up from 110.0 points a year ago, the NBA’s seventh-lowest yield.
However, they have balanced that with the league’s second-most prolific offense at 123.6 points per game, a jump of 13.0 points per outing compared to 2024-25. The offseason acquisition of Norman Powell, who averages a team-leading 25.0 points, helped fuel Miami’s increase in offensive productivity.
Powell missed Wednesday’s matchup with an ankle injury. His status for Friday is questionable as is Tyler Herro (toe), who scored all 20 of his points in the first half against Dallas.
–Field Level Media
