Meet the Opponent: Nets-Magic Matinee Closes Out 2024 for Each Team

The Orlando Magic finish a two-week homestand Sunday afternoon against the Brooklyn Nets. Playing without three of their top four producers, the Magic have scored under 100 points in four of the past six games.

Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs (4) brings the ball up court while being defended by Brooklyn Nets forward Cameron Johnson (2) during the first half at Barclays Center. / John Jones-Imagn Images

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Magic-Brooklyn Nets matinee matchup on Sunday afternoon is each team's final game of 2024. Tipoff is 3:30 p.m. at the Kia Center.

This year-ender also closes out the Magic's two-week homestand. Orlando has lost four of the six games thus far, all of them against teams with winning records. The Magic have been playing without their top two scorers (Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner), then lost their best bench scorer (Moe Wagner) a week ago.

The Magic have scored under 90 points in the past two games, but guard Jalen Suggs displayed his usual candor when reflecting on the outcomes Friday night.

"I don’t think this is the time to sit here and overreact and blow things out of proportion," Suggs said. "These have been two really good basketball games that we’ve been in.

"None of us are hanging our head. We’re all excited to get back, to see each other [and] come play Brooklyn Sunday, early afternoon game. Beautiful situation to come play basketball. Hopefully, it’s sunny [that day.] This fog in the city’s kind of been killing me. So yeah, looking forward to hooping again, really.”

Orlando's third matchup with Brooklyn (12-19) is Game 34 of the regular season. The Nets are 3-7 in their past 10 games and 2-4 since trading Dennis Schroder to Golden State.

For the Magic, 19-14, it's a chance to ring in the New Year on a high.

About the Nets

Leading Scorers

• Cam Thomas: 24.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 46.1 FG%, 38.9 3PT%
• Cam Johnson: 19.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 49.2 FG%, 42.9 3PT%

Injury Report

• Cam Johnson: Probable (right hip contusion) – missed last game with same injury.
• Cam Thomas: Probable (left hamstring strain) – has missed last 13 games due to injury.
• Bojan Bogdanovic: OUT (left foot injury recovery) - hasn't yet played this year
• De'Anthony Melton: OUT (left knee ACL tear) - season-ending surgery
• Trendon Watford: OUT (left hamstring strain) - last played Dec. 16
• Ziaire Williams: OUT (left knee sprain) - last played Dec. 1
• Dorian Finney-Smith: OUT (not with team, traded)
• Shake Milton: OUT (not with team, traded)

Head Coach

Jordi Fernandez, Brooklyn Nets: Fernandez is in his first season as an NBA head coach. He was an assistant with Sacramento and Denver. He was the head coach of the Canton Charge and also a development coach with Cleveland. He served as the head coach for Team Canada during this summer's Olympics.

Notable Numbers

• 108.1 points/game (26th)
• 39.2 rebounds/game (30th)
• -4.7 net rating (24th overall, 20th offense, 24th defense)
• 53.9 eFG% (17th)
• 96.91 possessions/game (30th pace)
• 15.9 TOV% (23rd)

Keys to the Game

Win the turnover battle

The Magic and Nets are two of the more turnover-prone teams in the league.

In the Miami and New York losses on Thursday and Friday, the Magic turned the ball over 40 times and surrendered 49 points on those lost possessions.

Orlando is 11-7 this year when it commits fewer turnovers than its opponent.

The Magic's defense gives them opportunities. After 33 games, Orlando ranks third in points off turnovers a game (20.4).

The struggle more recently has been converting those opposition mistakes into baskets. Orlando managed only 10 points off of the Knicks' 19 giveaways. New York scored 24 points off the Magic's 17 turnovers.

Make some jump shots

Sometimes for the Magic offense, it boils down to a case of making or missing a few longer shots.

Orlando is not a great jump-shooting team. That's not groundbreaking information. But it is the cause, partially, for why the Magic couldn't put Miami away after a strong start on Thursday or keep pace with New York on Friday.

The Magic rank last in three-point shooting by two whole percentage points — 30.7 percent to Houston's 32.7.

Across the board, they are the worst catch-and-shoot team in the league: 32% on 28.3 attempts from the field per game; and 31.3% on 26.9 catch-and-shoot threes per game. Their 46.9 eFG% on such attempts from the field is also league-worst.

After failing to reach 90 points in either of their past two games, the Magic's 106.0 points per game now is lowest in the NBA.

Again, missing three of your four leading scorers — good for around 60-65 points a night on average when all healthy — doesn't help. But until those pieces come back (and only two of the three will this season), Orlando has to find a way to generate some offense.

Suggs is averaging 21.1 points over his last seven games as top option and five other players are averaging double figures since Franz Wagner's oblique tear Dec. 6 at Philadelphia. But the consistency among the supporting cast hasn't been there, hence the nightly rock fights that have ensued.

Paolo Banchero's re-integration, possibly in a couple weeks, will help with scoring and more open looks on offense. The teammates he'll be playing with need to be more reliable offensively.

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• MAGIC-NETS INJURY REPORT: Who's in, who's out for Orlando and Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon? CLICK HERE
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• PAOLO, NOW 'HEALED,' GETTING CLOSER TO RETURN: After his torn right oblique has now fully healed, the Magic star is hoping to return back to the court with Orlando soon. CLICK HERE
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• MAGIC, MOE SEARCH FOR POSITIVES AFTER ACL TEAR: After a season-ending ACL tear, the Magic center is "trying [his] best to stay very positive" as he adjusts to a new reality. CLICK HERE
• MAGIC FAST-TRACK da SILVA'S PROCESS: Reflecting on the first third of his rookie season, Tristan da Silva is thankful for the opportunity and trust to "figure it out on the fly." CLICK HERE
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