Last week: Lost at Detroit 103-88, won at Cleveland 116-104, lost to Toronto 90-83
This week: Sunday vs. Golden State, Tuesday at Washington, Wednesday vs. Phoenix, Friday at Cleveland
The Orlando Magic went through the entire week last week without injured All-Star Nikola Vucevic and for two games without Aaron Gordon and, not surprisingly, the offense continued to sputter for long periods. The Magic were held to less than 90 points twice last week and are last in the NBA with an offensive rating of 102.4.
Gordon returned in the loss to the Raptors on Friday, but showed some rust with a 2-for-11 night and just eight points overall. Vucevic, meanwhile, is to be re-evaluated this week as he’s missed four games (and counting) with a sprained right ankle.
The schedule could be conducive to a turnaround for Orlando, as they will play four games against teams that are currently below the .500 mark, including the NBA-worst Golden State Warriors.
Evan Fournier continued to try and shoulder much of the offensive load, averaging 22.0 points per game last week — including a season-high 30 in the win at Cleveland. He also put up 3.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals in 36.8 minutes per game, but shot just 38.3 percent overall and was 5-for-20 (25.0 percent) from deep.
Last week: Lost to Washington 140-132, lost to Dallas 120-113
This week: Monday at Charlotte, Wednesday at Orlando, Thursday at New Orleans, Saturday at Houston
For the first time this season, the Phoenix Suns have fallen below .500. That came after losing both of their games last week. Overall, the Suns have lost three straight games and six of their last seven.
Phoenix still owns a top-10 offense, ranking sixth with its 110.7 offensive rating, but the Suns have slid to 18th defensively with a rating of 108.9. They’re giving up an effective field goal percentage of 53.8 percent during competitive phases this season, per Cleaning the Glass, and are surrendering 23.3 free throws during those phases, which ranks 26th in the NBA.
The Suns have cleared up their injury issues, with only Deandre Ayton remaining unavailable as he continued to serve out his 25-game suspension. He has eight games left of the penalty.
Devin Booker produced numbers for Phoenix in two games last week with 45 points, 16 assists, seven rebounds and two steals in 76 minutes, while shooting 44.4 percent overall while going 3-for-9 from 3-point range. Booker is shooting 41.9 percent from deep this season, but is at just 22.2 percent (6-for-27) over the last five games.