Jordan Poole is starting to show why the Washington Wizards acquired him from the Golden State Warriors during the offseason.
The Wizards, who have lost 15 games in a row, will need another strong shooting night from Poole when they host the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. Orlando has won four straight games and 12 of its past 15.
The Magic are playing the second night of a back-to-back set after earning a 101-89 road win over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday. Paolo Banchero scored 22 points in the victory, while Wendell Carter Jr. added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Despite sitting in a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, Orlando isn’t drawing much national attention. Magic guard Cole Anthony believes that will change soon.
“People are starting to slowly but surely catch on,” Anthony said. “There are some good teams in this league, and we are trying to build our way up into those ranks. And I feel like we are well on our way. The hype will come. We just have to keep doing what we’ve got to do.”
Orlando will need to be careful not to overlook Washington, which is one defeat from matching the franchise’s worst skid, set from March 3-31, 2010.
The Wizards have struggled to close out games this season, and that trend continued in a 127-115 loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday in Salt Lake City.
Poole scored 32 points in the defeat, while Kyle Kuzma added 23 and Tyus Jones had 21. Washington led by 10 points in the third quarter and by five in the fourth quarter but came up short after going without a field goal over the final 5:21.
“We’re a young team, so we’re still figuring out when to pick and choose our spots … to feel the flow of the game and then when to slow it down, when to get into a set and try to figure out what shot we want,” Poole said.
After struggling to find his shot for much of the season, Poole was moved from the starting lineup to a reserve role on Feb. 22. He has responded by averaging 23.4 points in his seven games off the bench after he put up 15.6 per game as a starter.
Washington interim coach Brian Keefe said, “We told him that we want (him) to be aggressive for himself and for others, and you’re seeing that, when the shots are going in, it’s the same shots that he’s (been getting). The process has been good. He can generate a lot of offense for us. This was part of the reason we wanted him to have the ball more.”
Washington has lost its last five meetings against Orlando, including all three matchups this season.
Orlando used a balanced attack in the Monday win over Charlotte to move 10 games over .500 for the first time since April 18, 2012. The Magic have won the rebounding battle nine times and matched their opponent’s output twice in the past 11 games.
“So much fun,” Magic forward Jonathan Isaac said. “I feel so excited, looking forward to each game. It’s something that’s just continuing to grow. We have a great group of guys that just want to win, want to compete and want to play well.”
–Field Level Media