Phoenix Suns

Phoenix Suns v Orlando Magic 11/23 Game Preview

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Phoenix Suns (4-11) v Orlando Magic (6-8)

Monday 11/21/2016 5:00pm
Amway Center, Orlando, FL
Fox Sports Arizona Plus/Arizona Sports 98.7FM

Season Series – 0-0
All-Time Series – Phoenix leads 33-20
Last Matchup – March 4, 2016 Phoenix won, 102-84
Suns’ Last Game – Loss to Philadelphia 120-105
Magic’s Last Game – Loss to Wizards 106-101
Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 107.9 (8th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 114.3 (30th of 30)
Magic’s Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 92.3 (29th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 99.4 (10th of 30

Preview

Phoenix Suns

Against the Washington Wizards, the Suns lost their second straight, and seventh in nine games. In those seven losses, the Suns’ average loss margin is 11.4…The Suns are currently 1-4 on their six-game road trip, and 2-8 on the road thus far…Neither Tyson Chandler (personal reasons) nor T.J. Warren (illness) are expected to play against the Magic…Following a superb shooting performance, scoring 30 points against Washington, Booker has raised his scoring average to 19.9 points per game. His +/- of -17 was the worst of the game against the Wizards. Booker’s 2.7 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game are almost exactly in line with his stats from last season. His 32.9% three-point percentage is ticking up and is now only 1.4% below his season average from last season…The Suns retain top-5 positions in 2-pt field goals made (3) and attempted (2) (although they rank 17th in the league in 2-pt FG percentage at 48.7%), free throws made (1st) and attempted (1st) (although they rank 23rd in FT% at 74.7%), offensive rebounds (2nd) and total rebounds (3rd) (although even without Tyson Chandler for much of the last two weeks, they are now 6th in the league in total rebounds thanks in large part to the bench rebounding of Alan Williams (6.2) and P.J. Tucker (5.7)), steals (4th) , and points (5th)…The Suns rank near the bottom-5 in three-pointers made (26th), three-point percentage (29th at 31.5% after shooting 34.8% last year), turnovers (26th), and personal fouls (30th)…

Orlando Magic

The Magic blew a five point lead at the start of the fourth, only scoring 15 points in the final quarter, in a four point, 93-89 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, November 21…The Orlando Magic have five scorers averaging double digit scoring, led by Evan Fournier’s 16.9 points per game, the third lowest scoring average by a team’s leading scorer, ahead of only the Los Angeles Lakers’ Louis Williams’ at 16.6 points per game, and the Detroit Pistons’ Tobias Harris’ 16.2…Fornier’s 16.9 points per game does represent a career high in scoring at the moment…Nikola Vucevic is averaging a 10.7 point and 10.9 rebound double-double this season. He has had five double-doubles so far, including two 24 point and 14 rebound outings against Philadelphia on November 1, and against Minnesota on November 9…Serge Ibaka is 5th in the league in three-point percentage at 47.4%…The Magic are 7th in the league in blocks, and 5th in the league in personal fouls, representing the only two major traditional statistics that Orlando is top-10 in the league in…Unlike the Suns who are still number one in pace, the Magic are 25th…Orlando is a poor shooting team. Their field goal percentage is 41.1% good for 29th in the league, their two-point field goal percentage is 44.8%, last in the NBA, and their free throw percentage is 72.4%, 24th in the league. Their eFG%, which adjusts for the fact that 3-point field goals are worth 50 percent more than 2-point field goals, is dead last in the NBA as well, at 45.9%…No surprise that a team is ranked 28th in points overall, would also be ranked near the bottom in scoring per quarter. In regards to per quarter scoring rankings, Orlando is ranked 29, 26, 26, 21. By contrast, the perennially slow starting Suns rank 26, 18, 3, 10…

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