Orlando Magic at Sacramento Kings game preview, Digi Mart USA News: The start of the Orlando Magic’s four-game road trip out West has not gone exactly how they wanted.
However, after falling in Phoenix, an extremely shorthanded Orlando squad put up a valiant showing in an overtime loss to Golden State. But in the NBA, good efforts don’t count in the win column.
The Magic (2-7) will attempt to get back on track and snap a four-game losing skid when they visit the Sacramento Kings (1-9) on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET.
Orlando’s 2026-27 campaign has been riddled with adversity thus far. Not only have they had one of the league’s toughest schedules to start the season, but starters Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs have missed significant time, and other players like Anthony Black, Desmond Bane, Noah Penda and Jonathan Isaac have all missed their share of action.
On Tuesday morning, Tristan da Silva was added to the injury report with a left calf strain. Da Silva, who has been off to a sensational start to the season, is questionable for tonight’s contest.
“Stay the course,” said Magic center Nikola Vucevic. “It’s a long season.
It’s not easy when you start the way we have. We’ve had some injuries and some guys down, so we’re not at full strength and we haven’t really been able to show what we can do … It’s a long year.
A lot can happen and things can turn around really quickly.”
Tonight, the Magic hope to build on that strong overtime outing against the Warriors and use it as a blueprint for success. In that matchup, Orlando turned Golden State over 19 times and generated 26 points off those takeaways.
The Magic also outrebounded the Warriors 24-3 on the offensive glass and used that advantage to score 33 second-chance points.
“I thought we did a great job on both ends with our rebounding,” said Magic head coach Sean Sweeney. “I thought that was phenomenal.
I thought our activity on defense, forcing turnovers, was great. Offensively, I thought we did a much better job of taking care of the basketball.
We need to keep that up. I think from there, if we can continue to improve on our paint decisions and defensively continue to improve on how we contest shots, those are some things that we can carry forward and keep doing and improve upon.”
While the Kings have struggled to rack up wins, in part due to their defensive struggles, they have some potent offensive pieces. Rookie Darius Acuff Jr.
is currently leading all first-year players in scoring and assists, tallying 25.9 points and 7.4 assists per game.
“I’ve been a big fan of his game ever since I saw he was coming to (the University of) Arkansas,” said fellow Razorback Anthony Black. “He’s just real mature for his age.
A good player. I’ve chopped it up with him a couple of times … It’s going to be fun playing against him.”
IN AND OUT: Da Silva (left calf strain) is questionable, while Banchero (right low-grade high ankle sprain), Isaac (left knee injury management), Izaiyah Nelson (left ankle injury recovery), Penda (right partially torn hamstring) and Suggs (right knee contusion/bone bruise) are out for Orlando.
For Sacramento, Keegan Murray (right wrist soreness) and Domantas Sabonis (left knee soreness) are questionable, while Maxime Raynaud (right patella subluxation) and Ben Simmons (right Achilles tendon repair/surgery) are out.
KEY STATS: Orlando forward Franz Wagner has shot 54.7 percent from the field against the Kings in his career, his highest mark against any team. Per Sportradar, Wagner has accounted for 40.3 percent of the Magic’s total offense this season.
The only player in the NBA with a larger share of responsibility for his team’s offense thus far is Acuff, who has accounted for 40.5 percent of it for Sacramento.
The Kings’ 1-9 mark through 10 games is tied for the worst start in their franchise history.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “It’s huge (not to get caught up in the moment when things aren’t going your way). We have many more months left of this thing and a lot of room and a lot of time to improve.
And we will.” – Magic guard Desmond Bane
