When the Magic had the visiting Mavs the previous month, the Mavs had been in the middle of a 17 - 1 streak while the Magic, days following revamping their personnel, were on their way to an 8th defeat within 9 contests.
everything has gone right for Orlando since. Not much has gone well for the Mavs.
the Magic are trying to equal the lengthiest winning streak in club history Saturday evening them start a 5 game journey away from home versus perplexed, who want to prevent a 5th defeat within 7 contests since Dirk Nowitzki had been sidelined having a knee injury.
Orlando ( 24 - 12 ) have dropped 5 of 6 when they got a facelift December 18th, swapping 4 of the lineup's best 8 players for Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu & Earl Clark.
following playing missing talent during a defeat the day of the facelift, the Magic lost the 1st 2 contests with their rebuilt look, which includes a 105 - 99 loss versus the Mavs ( 26 - 9 ) on December 21st.
As they were hoping, it did not start going downhill in Orlando. These days it 999 get a whole lot better. Orlando, who put in 89 within their 1 - 8 slide, have put in 106.5 per game since. They increased their winning run to 8 Friday, using a 39 - 21 rally during the 3rd quarter to glide past the Rockets, 110 - 95.
A win in Dallas, where the Magic have won their previous 2, would tie the club, record winning streak of 9, 1st established in the 1994 - 1995 season & equaled during 2000 - 2001.
While Arenas is still perplexed, he's put in 35.9 % since the deal, Richardson & Turkoglu have flourished. Richardson has put in 14.3 & Turkoglu 13.5 within the run, with each shooting above 50 % from the court overall & 40 % from beyond the arc.
As Orlando's offensive attack has started to gel, Dallas' has been inconsistent. Not only has Nowitzki skipped the previous 6 contests having a sprained right knee, however 3rd leading scorer Caron butler had been lost for the year previously Saturday following tearing a tendon within his right knee.
The Mavs are throwing up 43.3 % since Nowitzki had been sidelined & putting in 89.8, almost ten less than what they had been putting in within a 24 - 5 start.
Thursday's 99 - 95 defeat to the Thunder had been Dallas' 3rd within 4 contests on their home court, their worst streak at the American Airlines Center since opening 2008 - 2009 with 4 straight losses.
Saturday's matchup will Mark the 1st occasion in Nowitzki's thirteen year career he has skipped 7 contests during a year. The earliest He will come back is Wednesday, when the Mavs start a 4 game trek at the Pacers.
Chandler's largest issue Saturday will be stopping Howard. Orlando's big man has put in 26.8, 17.5 & 3.3 rejections during the club's previous 4 games.