Spurs-Magic Preview
A win over the Orlando Magic on the first day of February reignited the San Antonio Spurs, and another would put them in familiar territory - heading into the All-Star break on another lengthy winning streak and still on pace for the third-best regular season in NBA history.
The Spurs seek their fourth run of at least six wins and their 10th consecutive victory over the Magic when they continue their rodeo road trip Wednesday night in Orlando.
San Antonio (44-8) closed January with losses in two of three games without Tim Duncan, who will likely miss his ninth straight with a sore right knee. The Spurs, though, haven't had any troubles without him since, shooting above 50 percent in four of their last five while winning by an average of 15.2 points.
LaMarcus Aldridge has been huge inside this month, averaging 26.4 points and 2.2 blocks while making 60.3 percent of his shots. That spurt started with the All-Star's 28 points and five blocks in a 107-92 win over the Magic on Feb. 1.
Aldridge, who also scored 28 points in Tuesday's 119-101 win at Miami, has had at least 26 in four of the last five games to soften the blow of playing without Duncan and Manu Ginobili, who is out until March with a testicular injury.
With all of the buzz surrounding Golden State's historic start, the Spurs have flown somewhat under the radar despite an .846 winning percentage that is on pace to trail only the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' mark of .878 and this season's Warriors.
''We prefer it that way,'' said Danny Green, who has averaged 12.5 points and 5.8 rebounds the last four games. ''Even if we weren't under the radar, we'd still have to be focused and not pay attention to what goes on outside of what we're doing.''
Especially on a season-high eight-game road stretch that continues after the break. The Spurs won't play another home game until March 2 due to the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.
They've had little trouble in Orlando, winning four straight there as part of nine consecutive victories in this series. The Magic haven't beaten the Spurs since a 123-101 home win on Dec. 23, 2010.
Orlando (23-28) shot 40.6 percent against the league's top defense earlier this month, making only 5 of 17 3-pointers and committing 16 turnovers. That loss came on the tail end of 15 defeats in 17 games that dropped the Magic to last place in the Southeast Division, though they steadied themselves a bit with a home-and-home sweep of Atlanta to start this week.
First, Nikola Vucevic sank a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer for Sunday's 96-94 home win before scoring 25 of his 28 points in the second half of Monday's 117-110 victory in Atlanta. Vucevic finished with 22 rebounds between the two games while shooting 62.9 percent.
"It's big, it's really big for us," Victor Oladipo said. "It's going to help our confidence as individuals and as a team."
An upset over the Spurs entering the break would go a long way in boosting that confidence even more, supplying the Magic with their first three-game winning streak since Dec. 14-18.
Orlando opened the season 12-6 at Amway Center but has dropped six of its last eight there.