Magic look to regain footing in clash vs. Spurs

The Orlando Magic will look to get back on the winning track when they visit the slumping San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.

It will be the second game of a back-to-back set for the Magic (36-40), who dropped a 96-87 decision to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.

Orlando, which has lost two of its past three games, was led by Paulo Banchero’s 26 points on Monday.

Franz Wagner added 21, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 11, and Cory Joseph scored 10 for the Magic, who were just 7 of 26 from beyond the arc.

The loss cost Orlando a chance to pull even with idle Atlanta for seventh place in the Eastern Conference with six games to play. Orlando already has clinched a postseason berth.

The Magic’s run to the postseason has been bolstered of late by the 3-point shooting of reserve Caleb Houstan.

Moved into the team’s sixth man role because of injuries, Houstan had made 56.1 percent of his treys in about 14 1/2 minutes of court time over the 12 games that proceeded Monday’s loss.

“I really like (Houstan’s) confidence,” Wagner told the Orlando Sentinel. “Everybody on the team feels that every time he touches it and goes to the 3, he should shoot it. He’s really easy to plug in with anybody out there, and we really need his shooting.”

Houstan’s recent proficiency has allowed more floor space and created another weapon for opponents to worry about for Orlando.

The need for Houstan’s contribution was magnified on Monday when he took only one 3-pointer and finished with just two points in 17 minutes.

The Magic won its only other game against the Spurs this season, 112-11 in Orlando on Feb. 8. Orlando has captured the past three contests in the series.

The Spurs (31-43) will return to the court after a 148-106 loss at home to Golden State on Sunday.

San Antonio was playing the second game of a home back-to-back set after falling to Boston on Saturday. The Spurs never seriously challenged Golden State, giving up a season-high point total and dropping its fourth straight outing.

Down by 17 points after one period and by 34 at halftime, the Spurs were empty in the second half, trailing by 47 points in the fourth quarter.

San Antonio was led by Keldon Johnson’s 19 points off the bench while Sandro Mamukelashvili racked up 14 points and 11 rebounds.

“(The Warriors) didn’t have any lapses, and that’s something we can learn from,” Spurs forward Harrison Barnes said. “Obviously turnovers, shot quality, communication, defensive breakdowns and things like that happened at certain times. When you’re playing against good teams (that hurts), and they capitalized.”

The Spurs still are mathematically in the running for a spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament, but those chances are waning. San Antonio is in 13th place, 4 1/2 games behind 10th-place Sacramento with eight games remaining in the regular season.

–Field Level Media