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Gameday: Magic @ Raptors, January 21

After a three day hiatus, the Toronto Raptors host the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.

The last time these two teams played on Jan. 3, the Magic won 106-97, largely on the back of their tough and willful team defence, a hot 3-point shooting night, and Tristan da Silva.

Since then Orlando has struggled, going 2-6. Paolo Banchero returned Jan. 10 from the torn oblique injury that held him out for 32 games over a span of two months. But the Magic have still lost four of five since welcoming their franchise player back into the fold.

Banchero is averaging 21.4 points on 42/38/75 shooting splits, adding 6.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists during this stretch. The matchup between him and Scottie Barnes – Rookie of the Year winners in consecutive seasons (2021-22 and ’23-24), budding superstars, and offensive hubs – should be exceptionally fun to watch.

Raptors Outlook: 10-32 | 14th in Eastern Conference | Off rating: 110.1 (23rd) | Def rating: 117.5 (28th) | Net rating: -7.4 (27th)

Raptors Previous Results

@ Milwaukee L 130-112

vs Boston W 110-97

vs Golden State W 104-101

@ Detroit L 123-114

@ Cleveland L 132-126

On offence, the Raptors need to work their magic in order to get Orlando’s defence in motion and open up driving lanes and space for cutters.

In a basketball world dominated by the 3-ball, the Magic are the best in NBA at limiting opponents 3-point attempts. They are also good at specifically limiting 3s from the corner, where their 9.1 percent opponent 3-point frequency ranks sixth in the league.

But that’s ok, because as we know well, the Raptors don’t take or make many 3s anyway.

Barnes has been taking a ton of mid-range attempts lately. He is tied for the second in the league in attempts between 10-14 feet over the last five games. The young star has looked increasingly comfortable settling into turnaround jumpers and mid-range pull-ups.

Magic Outlook: 23-21 | 7th in Eastern Conference | Off rating: 107.7 (29th) | Def rating: 107.7 (3rd) | Net rating: 0.0 (15th)

Magic Previous Results

vs Nuggets L 113-100

@ Celtics L 121-94

@ Milwaukee L 122-93

vs Philadelphia W 104-99

vs Milwaukee L 109-106

The Magic, as you can see above, have seen drastically different results on either end of the floor this season. They boast one of the best defensive units in the league while barely scraping by on offence (the identical offensive and defensive ratings, equaling out to a dead even net, is kind of funny).

This comes with the caveat that Banchero has missed the majority of the season, and Franz Wagner has missed 17 games on top of that. Raptors fans know all too well the pitfalls that come along with lineup instability as a result of injuries.

Wagner is now reportedly seven-to-10 days out from returning to NBA action from the same injury that sidelined Banchero. You’d better believe that the whole Magic team is going to be doing their share of side planks and bicycle crunches after the pain they’ve suffered at the hands of the oblique muscle.

Game Info

Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m. ET

Television: TSN

Radio: TSN Radio 1050