Orlando Magic: 10 Things You Should Know

November 10, 2014

The Magic will play four games in five nights this week. Orlando will play its second back-to-back set of the season when they take on the Raptors in Toronto on Tuesday, November 11 (7:30 p.m. EST) before heading to New York for a matchup with the Knicks on Wednesday, November 12 (7:30 p.m. EST). The Magic will return to Amway Center as they host the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, November 14 (7 p.m. EST) before heading back up north to battle the Washington Wizards on Saturday, November 15 (7 p.m. EST).
Single-game tickets can be purchased online at www.orlandomagic.com, at the Chase box office at Amway Center, at all TicketMaster outlets, or by calling 1-800-4NBA-TIX. MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover accepted at all purchase points.
All regular season Orlando Magic games will be locally televised exclusively by FOX Sports Florida

The Orlando Magic registered two victories against the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves on November 5 and 7, respectively.
Tobias Harris scored a team-high 18 points versus the 76ers, including the game-winning jumper as time expired, as Orlando defeated Philadelphia, 91-89, at Wells Fargo Center.
Evan Fournier led a balanced attacked with 20 points versus the Timberwolves, as Orlando defeated Minnesota, 112-103, in overtime at Amway Center. With the Magic trailing 94-92, Nikola Vu?evi? hit a pair of free throws with 11.9 seconds left and forced the extra session, securing Orlando’s first home win of the year.

The Magic forced a season-high 20 turnovers in their game against the Philadelphia 76ers on November 5. Philadelphia point guard Tony Wroten committed nine turnovers, the most by any individual player against Orlando since Jermaine O’Neal turned it over nine times for Indiana on April 19, 2006.

The Magic have shot better than 50 percent from the field as a team in three of the first seven games of the season, which ties them with the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, and Miami Heat for the most games shooting 50 percent or better as a team during the 2014-15 campaign. Orlando is currently shooting 46.5 percent on the year, good for the seventh-best mark in the NBA.

Magic center Nikola Vu?evi? currently ranks second in the NBA and first in the Eastern Conference with 12.3 rebounds per game. Vu?evi? and New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis are the only two players to average at least 18 points and 12 rebounds per game so far this season. Vu?evi?, Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard, and Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins are the only players this season to score at least 27 points and grab at least 12 rebounds while shooting 65 percent or better from the field in a game this season.

Through the first seven games of the 2014-15 campaign, Magic rookie point guard Elfrid Payton has played a total of 211 minutes, dished out 45 assists, and notched 11 steals. Orlando’s floor general leads all first-year players in each category this season. In fact, Payton has handed out more than twice as many assists as any other rookie. Rockets forward Kostas Papanikolaou has registered the second-most assists by a rookie with 22.

Through Orlando’s first seven games of the season, newcomer Evan Fournier has scored 112 points while shooting 50.6 percent (40-for-79) from the floor. Through the first seven games of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons as a member of the Denver Nuggets, Fournier scored a combined 56 points on 41.2 percent (21-for-51) shooting.

On November 7, Magic rookie Aaron Gordon scored 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting against the Timberwolves. The 19-year-old hit both of his 3-point attempts and all three of his free throws in 22 minutes of action. Gordon joined Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker as the only two players this season to score at least 17 points in a game while shooting over 65 percent without missing a 3-point attempt or free throw attempt.

In the six games in which he has played this season, Magic forward Channing Frye has recorded two games of shooting 75 percent or better from 3-point range with a minimum of four 3-point attempts. He achieved this feat twice in 82 games last season.

10. Ridnour provides a spark of the bench against Brooklyn

Magic reserve point guard Luke Ridnour was productive and efficient off the bench on Sunday, scoring 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting (3-for-3 from 3-point range) while securing four rebounds and handing out four assists against the Brooklyn Nets. This was the fourth time in 790 career games that he has registered at least four rebounds and four assists while also making each of his shot attempts from beyond the arc (minimum three attempts).