Warriors seek seventh straight win as short-handed Magic arrive on three-game skid
Golden State (6-3) puts a six-game win streak on the line Saturday at Chase Center against an Orlando team that has lost three in a row and is missing Banchero.
The Golden State Warriors will try to extend a six-game winning streak on Saturday night at Chase Center. Their opponent is an Orlando Magic team that has dropped three straight and is playing without most of its core. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. Eastern, 5:30 p.m. local time.
The Associated Press preview on ESPN lists Orlando at 2-6, 12th in the Eastern Conference and last in the Southeast Division. Golden State is 6-3 and seventh in the West. The bigger story is who will be missing. Paolo Banchero (ankle) and Jalen Suggs (knee) are both out for the Magic, along with Jonathan Isaac (knee), Izaiyah Nelson (ankle) and Noah Penda (hamstring). That takes Orlando's top scorer and its best perimeter defender out of the matchup.
The Warriors are short-handed too, with no change from earlier this week. In its preview for Thursday's game against Miami, NBA.com listed Jimmy Butler III (recovery from right ACL surgery), Moses Moody (left patellar tendon repair), Gui Santos (left knee tendinitis) and Kristaps Porzingis (not with team) as out. ESPN's report for Saturday has the same four players unavailable. Porzingis is listed with an illness. Golden State won all six games of its streak without them.
The two teams went in opposite directions last season. ESPN's preview has Orlando at 45-37 a year ago and Golden State at 37-45. Nine games into this season, the records have flipped.
What it means for Saturday
Golden State started 0-3. It lost by 22 at the Lakers, by three at home to Memphis and by nine in Phoenix, and it has not lost since. The streak began with road wins at Denver (134-114) and Minnesota (119-114). The Warriors then went home and beat the Lakers 112-95, the Clippers 124-112 and Phoenix 116-113. They beat Miami 120-100 on Thursday.
Over those six games, the Warriors scored 120.8 points per game and allowed 108.0, an average margin of about 12.8. Their only one-possession game in that stretch was the three-point win over the Suns. The Warriors are 4-1 at Chase Center, and the only home loss was the close one to Memphis on the first week of the season.
Orlando is 2-2 on the road. That record says the Magic have handled travel reasonably well. Still, they have not won in more than a week, and the absence of Banchero and Suggs leaves them thin on shot creation and defense. Last season Orlando allowed 115.1 points per game. Golden State has topped that number in five of its six straight wins.
Saturday's game also opens a busy November. The Warriors host New Orleans on Monday before a five-game road swing that goes through Houston, San Antonio, New Orleans, Dallas and Memphis. A win over a depleted Orlando team would let Golden State leave home with seven straight wins. The Warriors trail the Pacific-leading Lakers by one game.
