Game night preview

ORLANDO MAGIC at WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Saturday, March 13. 7:00 p.m.
Verizon Center
Washington, D.C.

The Orlando Magic (46-20, 19-14 road) have played the Washington Wizards (21-42, 12-21 home) twice this season, losing both meetings. But when these two teams meet up again on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET in the nation’s capital, the Magic will see a much different opponent. The Wizards dealt away a few of their premier players at the February trade deadline. Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson were sent to Dallas and Antawn Jamison was traded to Cleveland. In return, Washington ultimately ended up with Al Thornton and Josh Howard, who, shortly after arriving, tore his ACL to finish his season. At the start of the 2009-10 campaign, the Wizards were expected to be one of the Magic’s biggest challengers in the Southeast Division. But, Gilbert Arenas’ absence, on-the-court chemistry issues and frequent injuries to some of their essential role players ended any title dreams in D.C. Nevertheless, Orlando must come prepared to clash with an opponent that has nothing to lose. At this point of the season, it’s common for teams who are already out of the playoff picture to upset some of the elite teams. When examining the schedule the rest of the way, the Magic will play several of these non-playoff teams. As a result, one can expect Head Coach Stan Van Gundy to preach this message to his players. Orlando’s coaching staff, though, can rest a bit easier since many of the Magic players are seasoned veterans who understand the strange dynamic of an NBA season.

Team	Record	Standings	PF	PA	Road/Home	Streak	L10
Orlando	46-20	1st Southeast / 2nd East	101.9	95.1	Road 19-14	Won 7	9-1
Washington	21-42	5th Southeast / 13th East	97.0	101.2	Home 12-21	Lost 6	2-8

Here is the complete preview from Yahoo! Sports.

The Magic are 12 point favorites.