It's been a dismal season for Orlando, but one of their highlights was defeating Oklahoma City last November even with Russell Westbrook tearing things up. The Thunder will look to avenge that defeat when they travel to Orlando on Wednesday night. They've alternated wins and losses for the past five games and will look to string a couple of victories together. The Magic have found their winning ways by taking three of their last five contests. Tipoff time is set for 7:00 PM Eastern time and the game can be seen on NBATV, FSN Oklahoma, and FSN Florida.
Thunder (42-31, 2nd Northwest)
Oklahoma City finds themselves at the sixth seed in the Western Conference heading into Wednesday night's action. They're safely in the playoffs with a 2.5-game lead over seventh place, but they still have the potential to reach the critical fourth seed. That would give them home advantage for the first round of the playoffs, and potentially more if there are upsets.
Point guard Russell Westbrook (31.4 ppg, 10.4 apg) is looking for his fourth consecutive triple-double. He recorded 37 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists at Dallas -- that was after drilling 39 points at Houston. Small forward Andre Roberson (6.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg) has been getting better offensively but was limited to two points last time out.
Magic (27-47, 5th Southeast)
Orlando has been getting some decent wins lately, including handing Detroit a tough loss and taking down Philadelphia in overtime. However, they are coming off of a blowout against Toronto, 131-112. Their defense allowed the Raptors to hit 59 percent of their shots and hit 10-of-15 3-pointers. The Magic were able to hit just 4-of-20 3-pointers.
Point guard Elfrid Payton (12.5 ppg, 6.1 apg) led a balanced attack for the team with 22 points and a positive passing ratio of nine assists to one turnover. He went 8-for-12 from the field and hit 6-of-8 free throws.
Before defeating Oklahoma City in November, the Magic lost four consecutive to the Thunder. The road team is favored by 5.5 points this time around, and the total O/U is set at 219 points. Orlando is 3-15 against the spread in their last 18 games on Wednesday.
