San Antonio Spurs vs. Orlando Magic: TV Info & Notes
By Dylan Carter
The San Antonio Spurs will cap off a back-to-back homestand with a Sunday evening matchup against the Orlando Magic.
After hosting All-NBA power forward Anthony Davis and the Pelicans on Saturday night, the Spurs should easily secure the home victory over a youthful and inexperienced Magic team.
San Antonio’s dynamic duo of DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge continues to push themselves and the team to new heights. The tandem combined for 48 points against New Orleans while operating nicely on the defensive end and sharing the ball.
Date: Sunday, Nov. 4
Time: 6:00 p.m. CST
Location: San Antonio, TX
Venue: AT&T Center
TV Info: FSSW
Live Stream: FuboTV, NBA League Pass
The quintessential Spurs ball movement seems to be back in full effect with the newest iteration of the team. Veteran knowledge and execution have enabled San Antonio to exploit opponents for their weaknesses on both sides of the floor.
Orlando will provide a different kind of test for head coach Gregg Popovich to tackle, as their athleticism is comparable to that of any other team in the NBA. Forward Aaron Gordon, while timid at times, is capable of putting the ball on the deck and outrunning the Spurs over the course of the night.
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Coming off of a huge performance against New Orleans, forward Dante Cunningham, a swiss army knife of a wing defender, will play a major part in the Spurs’ success. He’ll need to be ready to switch onto defenders and provide help defense from the wing. This way, San Antonio can exploit some of the younger players by playing a smart style of team-based defense.
This will be San Antonio’s first regular season meeting with rookie center Mo Bamba, whose anomalous length and polished skill set have translated easily to the NBA. He’ll throw a wrench in the Spurs’ paint scoring, though he’s often forced off the floor by center Nikola Vucevic.
Vucevic is averaging 19 points and 10.9 rebounds on a hyper-efficient 55.3 percent from the floor and 57.1 percent from three. Throughout the course of the Orlando Magic rebuild from the Dwight Howard-era, Vucevic has remained one of the league’s most overlooked players because of his team’s horrendous lack of success.
That’s not to say that Vucevic isn’t an All Star caliber player, as his consistency and efficiency make him one of the league’s most skilled centers.
Getting everyone involved ?#GoSpursGo https://t.co/rmVsttQU9n
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 4, 2018
It’d be easy to suggest that the Spurs will take this victory easily, but Orlando is the type of lower-tier team that manages to steal wins that they realistically shouldn’t. In last season’s first meeting between the two ball clubs, Orlando won in a shocking blowout.
In the face of adversity, the San Antonio Spurs have elevated their game as a whole. For them to claim their fifth straight victory by taking care of business at home would warrant some real expectations for this team’s long term future.
Every game counts, even against lower level Eastern Conference opponents.