Brooklyn Nets vs Orlando Magic Prediction and Match Preview - 11th August 2020
Fixture - Brooklyn Nets vs Orlando Magic
Date & Time - August 11th, 1 PM ET (August 11th, 10:30 PM IST)
Where - AdventHealth Arena (WWOS), Orlando, Florida
The Orlando Magic and the Brooklyn Nets came into the bubble with a dogfight for 7th place in the East at stake, and are currently unchanged in the standings. This will be much to the surprise of those people who thought the Brooklyn Nets season had gone to the dogs given their injury list.
Instead, they've won 4 games since the restart and are 34-]36 - very close to a .500 record. With 2 more wins the Brooklyn Nets will be right there, making it a commendable achievement in a season where they've missed their two best players.
Brooklyn Nets Preview
The Brooklyn Nets have gotten hot against two title contenders so far - they dropped 43 in the first quarter against the Bucks, and 45 against the Clippers. On days that Joe Harris is not misfiring, they are a force to reckon with on the offensive end.
Chris Chiozza has been a pleasant surprise running point, and Tyler Johnson has grown into his sixth man role.
Brooklyn Nets - Key Player
The 3rd-year center has grown by leaps and bounds with every season and is now a threat to take over the starting role from DeAndre Jordan next season. Allen will be tested to the limit against a very skilled center in Nikola Vucevic, who put him in the weight room in these two teams' previous matchup. Allen's vertical spacing will be crucial for the Brooklyn Nets' offense.
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Brooklyn Nets Predicted Lineup
Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, Garrett Temple, Rodions Kurucs, Jarrett Allen
Orlando Magic Preview
The Orlando Magic have struggled to fill the shoes of Aaron Gordon since the swingman got injured in his third game in the bubble. The loss of defensive ace Jonathan Isaac has not been a favour to them either. Starting Wes Iwundu has been a serviceable strategy so far, but expecting him to provide scoring at Gordon's rate is a bit unreasonable.
As usual, the Orlando Magic will want their best pick-and-roll partnership of Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier to guide them to a W in this game.
Orlando Magic - Key Player
The Montenegrin All Star will be expected to bear the brunt of the Orlando Magic's offensive load. He has a crucial matchup with Jarrett Allen in front of him on both ends of the floor, and will probably resort to drop coverage on defense. Vucevic's soft touch around the rim and shooting range has been a problem for many a team, and the hope from him will be a big outing.
Orlando Magic Predicted Lineup
DJ Augustin, Wes Iwundu, Evan Fournier, James Ennis, Nikola Vucevic
Brooklyn Nets vs Orlando Magic - Match Prediction
The best-case scenario for the Magic would be that they coming out with a hot shooting hand in the game and keep the lead for all 4 quarters. These are the same circumstances in which the Nets caused an upset to both the Bucks and the Clippers. The probability of that transpiring seems relatively low though.
The Brooklyn Nets will be favoured to take this game. With their current personnel, they seem to have gelled better than the Magic who're still acclimating to the losses of Gordon and Isaac.
Brooklyn Nets vs Orlando Magic - Where to Watch
This game is not available on national sports TV networks in the USA. Viewers in Florida and New York can view it on Fox Sports Florida and Yankees Entertainment and Sports Networks respectively. Other viewers can stream this game live on NBA League Pass.
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