Mavericks hope to maintain dominance over Orlando Magic
Mavericks at Magic
6 p.m. Saturday, Amway Center, Orlando, Fla.
TV: FSSW Radio: ESPN/103.3 FM; ESPN/1540 AM (Spanish)
Records: Mavericks 2-9, Magic 5-7
About the Mavericks: Injuries will keep Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams, Devin Harris and J.J. Barea out of Saturday’s game. ... Owner Mark Cuban said of Nowitzki and his sore right Achilles: “We’re just playing it safe with Dirk. With so many guys out there’s no reason to rush him back.’’ ... The Mavs have won 20 of the last 26 meetings against the Magic, including eight of the last nine. ... The Mavs have not lost a season series to Orlando since the 1997-98 season. ... Harrison Barnes averages a team-high 22.9 points a game to go with 5.5 rebounds. Wesley Matthews averages 13.1 points, and Andrew Bogut averages a team-high 10.1 rebounds ... This is the second leg of a back-to-back for the Mavs, who also play in San Antonio on Monday on a two-game road trip.
About the Magic: Orlando has won two of its last three games. That includes a 119-117 upset victory at highly regarded Oklahoma City on Sunday in a game where former Thunder forward Serge Ibaka scored the game-winning basket with 0.4 seconds remaining. ... Orlando lost at Indiana 88-69 on Monday, then went home and defeated New Orleans 89-82 on Wednesday. ... The Magic got 42 points from their bench in beating New Orleans, including 11 each from D.J. Augustin and Damjan Rudez, and 10 from Aaron Gordon. ... Evan Fournier leads Orlando with 17.3 points a game. Ibaka averages 13.8 points and 6.7 rebounds, Elfird Payton 11.3 points and Nikola Vucdevic 10.8 points and 10.8 rebounds.
This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 10:05 PM with the headline "Mavericks hope to maintain dominance over Orlando Magic."