The Orlando Magic have climbed the Eastern Conference standings and have a chance to avoid the play-in tournament thanks to a late-season surge.
Orlando enters Friday night’s visit to the Chicago Bulls on a four-game winning streak, its second-longest run of the season.
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley used a starting lineup of Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. for the first time since Dec. 7 during Wednesday’s 132-120 home victory against Minnesota.
Wherever Orlando (44-36) finishes in the standings, players like how the team has rallied ahead of the postseason.
“Nobody wants to see us in a seven-game series,” center Goga Bitadze said. “That’s how we feel. We’ve got to prove it, but we’ve got to take care of business and wherever we end up, go from there.”
With two games remaining, the Magic have clinched a postseason berth and hold a one-game edge on Philadelphia and Charlotte in the race for the No. 7 seed and are one game behind Atlanta for No. 6.
The Nos. 7-10 seeds in each conference will take part in the play-in tournament.
Chicago (31-49), meanwhile, is coming off a two-game road sweep of the NBA-worst Washington Wizards, giving the beleaguered Bulls consecutive victories for the first time since a four-game winning streak from Jan. 18-24.
Tre Jones scored 31 points to key Thursday’s 119-108 victory against the Wizards, including a 12-for-12 effort from the free-throw line.
“We knew they were going to come out and try to get us back from the other night, you know. They answered the bell early, but in the second half, we came out ready to play, hit them in the mouth again and then finished down the stretch,” Jones said.
He has scored at least 20 points in three successive games for the first time in his career.
The Bulls hope to maintain their scoring balance against the Magic. Collin Sexton chipped in 27 points against Washington while Leonard Miller scored a career-best 26 points to go with 11 rebounds.
Chicago this week fired president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley. The team’s top two scorers, Josh Giddey (strained left hamstring) and Matas Buzelis (lllness), missed Thursday’s game, in which the Bulls dressed just nine players.
Jett Howard (sprained left ankle) and Jonathan Isaac (sprained left knee) will miss Friday’s game for the Magic. Wagner wasn’t listed on the injury report; he injured his left leg in the third quarter against Minnesota but returned to the floor.
“Pretty quickly, though, it all felt normal and we checked everything,” Wagner said. “I think it’s important to be out there and get some confidence and play a couple minutes more.”
Orlando is 7-3 in the past 10 meetings with Chicago, but the Bulls can clinch the season series with a victory. Chicago took a 2-1 edge with a 121-114 home win on Jan. 2 and is trying for consecutive wins against Orlando for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
Sexton is shooting 50% from the floor, including 59.1% from long range, in his past five games vs. the Magic.
–Field Level Media
