Game Preview: Knicks at Magic, December 27, 2024

Inconsistent. Slow start. Disappointing. We’ve heard all of those words, plus more, to describe the Knicks’ season so far. But after Wednesday’s Christmas Day thriller, they are 20-10, have gone 9-2 in December and are in the midst of a five-game winning streak that has them just two games behind the defending champion Boston Celtics for second in the conference.

Tonight, they will look to continue their hot streak and extend their aforementioned winning streak against the Magic, who the Knicks have seemingly played two years of games against already this season. Even crazier than the fact that this is the third meeting between these two teams in the last three and a half weeks is the fact that the Knicks will be playing the third different iteration of this team in that span.

When these two teams first met on December 3rd, the Magic were already without Paolo Banchero, who had suffered a torn oblique. But they still had Franz Wagner, who was in the midst of his breakout season, and he gave the Knicks all they could handle, going for 30 points and six assists. Unfortunately, just four days after that fight, Wagner was diagnosed with the same exact injury that had sidelined Banchero. So when these teams played again on the 15th, Orlando played without either of their top two players. In their absence, Moe Wagner, the older brother of Franz, stepped up and scored a career-high 32 points on 10-15 shooting from the field. Just a week after that game, Wagner went down with a non-contact knee injury that was later revealed to be a torn ACL.

With Banchero, and both Wagners out, the Magic are as shorthanded as any team in the league, but have consistently put in a great effort – credit to head coach Jamahl Mosley and their young players for buying in. They won the game against Miami, where the older Wagner went down. Then they beat the Celtics in Boston by four, then narrowly lost to the Heat by one last night. And Rob Perez, i tweet image below, explains so perfectly what makes Magic so fun to root for, but also annoying to play against. Regardless of who is playing and who they are missing, the Magic do two things consistently. They defend at an extremely high level. And they try harder than you.

With Orlando putting up a valiant effort on a nightly basis, New York, despite being heavy favorites tonight, will have a tough task ahead of them.

Projected starters

Jalen Suggs, who is 6’5″ will start as the de facto “point guard”. Suggs is average a career-high 16.5PPG on the season, but shooting just 40.8% from the field, and 30.1% from three. And he has 32- and 29-point games against the Bucks and Heat recently, but he also has just nine-point games in back-to-back games against the Knicks and Thunder. While he’ll likely continue to be inconsistent while shouldering a heavy offensive load as the Magic navigate life without Banchero and Wagner, his main responsibility tonight will be to contain Jalen Brunson. Suggs remains one of the premier perimeter defenders in the league, but Brunson has actually had success against him this season, average 26PPG and 4.5APG while shooting 48% from the field in two games.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will start alongside Suggs in the backcourt. The pair are the only players on the team who have played in and started over 25 games this season. Pope was brought in to be the floor spacer the Magic have so badly needed in recent years, but he has been anything but that this season. shooting a career-low 30.2% from three and an eight-year low 40.3% from the field. That said, he’s still a solid defender and had 24 points just six days ago against the Heat.

Making her third start is likely to be Trevelin Queen. The 27-year-old, in his third season in the league, is a bit of an unknown commodity, but he is coming off a 17-point outburst against the Celtics just two games ago. He’s also been incredibly active on the defensive end, picking up eight steals in the three games since being thrust into the rotation.

Starting at power forward will be rookie standout Tristan da Silva. The 23-year-old out of Colorado is average just 8.7PPG, 3.6RPG and 1.5APG on the season, but has seen a significant increase in minutes recently, and he’s rewarded the Magic with great play. In his last five games, he is average 15.8 PPG while shooting 58.3% from the field and 37% from three on 5.4 attempts per And Knicks fans may remember that in their last meeting he went off for a career-high 20 points.

Manning the center will be Goga Bitadze, a name Knicks fans became very familiar with during the offseason due to New York’s reported interest in the 25-year-old center. Bitadze is having a career year, average 9.4PPG, 8.3RPG, 2APG, 1.7SPG and 0.9BPG in 24.2MPG, all of which are career highs. He’s been an incredibly steady and reliable rock for the Magic, and if they’re going to win this game, he’ll likely be a big reason why.

Damage report

Orlando: Gary Harris (hamstring) out, Paolo Banchero (oblique) out, Moe Wagner (knee) out, Franz Wagner (oblique) out

New York: Mitchell Robinson (ankle) out, Kevin McCullar Jr. (knee) out

Forecast

New York has dropped games to Utah Jazzthe Detroit Pistonsand Atlanta Hawks. Orlando, despite missing a ton of players throughout the season, beat the Suns, LakersHeat and Celtics. So don’t let the recent records or injury report fool you.

The Magic are a very very solid team that plays incredibly hard and makes opponents beat them. If the Knicks aren’t careful and play down to competition, this could very well go the Magic’s way.

That said, it feels like the Knicks have turned a corner. Maybe the Corner. But they have been better lately. While their offense has slowed down a bit, they are still fourth in offensive rating in Decemberand their much improved defenses ranks fifth in defensive rating for the month. And overall theirs net assessment is also fourth in the league for December, which is ahead of competitors like the Celtics and Mavericks.

The Knicks can come out slow and the Magic can keep this game close with their stingy defense, physicality and toughness. But just like they did against the Raptors and Spurs, I think the Knicks will eventually get enough for their offense to take over and come out on top. Expect the trio of Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns and Brunson to all play well again tonight. Bridges is coming off a 41-point masterpiece against the Spurs and scored 17 or more in both games against the Magic this season, while both Towns and Brunson have also scored 20 or more in both meetings against Orlando. The Knicks take this one 105-95 and extend their winning streak to six.

Game details

New York Knicks (20-10) vs Orlando Magic (19-13)

Location: Kia Center, Orlando, FL

Date: Friday, December 27, 2024

Time: 19:00 ET

Clock: MSG

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