The Orlando Magic and New York Knicks each had an obvious short-term goal the last time they met.
The long-term goal will be even more obvious Sunday night, when the Magic host the Knicks in the first game since the NBA Cup for both teams.
The second Magic-Knicks clash in a 12-day span was set up when the teams were eliminated from the NBA Cup last Tuesday and Wednesday night. Orlando fell to the host Milwaukee Bucks 114-109 on Tuesday while New York lost to the visiting Atlanta Hawks 108-100 the next night.
The Magic and Knicks will now play each other four times this season — all between Dec. 3 and Jan. 6. With third-place Orlando and fourth-place New York separated by only one game in the Eastern Conference, the extra game could be pivotal for tiebreaker purposes when determining playoff seeding.
Both teams are likely to look much different Sunday than they would in a potential playoff rematch. The Magic, already accustomed to playing without star forward Paolo Banchero due to a torn right oblique, lost another key player to a right oblique injury Dec. 6, when forward Franz Wagner was injured against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Wagner is expected to miss a month. Banchero, who was given a four-to-six-week timetable when he was hurt Oct. 30, has yet to return to practice and is participating in limited basketball activities.
“He’s doing the same ball-handling, a little light movement on the floor and then just trying to find ways to get the cardio up without applying too much pressure,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said following practice Friday.
The Magic may get back forward Jonathan Isaac, who practiced Friday after missing the previous three games due to a strained right hamstring.
The Knicks’ starting lineup has been remarkably static. The quartet of OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart have started all 25 games, while Karl-Anthony Towns has started 23 times.
But the adjustment process — particularly on the defensive end — has taken longer than expected for the Knicks, who added Bridges and Towns in offseason trades.
The Knicks are averaging 117.0 points per game, up from 112.8 points per game last season. But New York ranks fifth in the East and 10th overall with 110.9 points allowed per game after allowing 108.2 points per game last season, the lowest figure in the East and the second-lowest in the NBA.
The Knicks never trailed in the first half Wednesday but fell behind for good in the third period, when the Hawks outscored New York 34-18 while shooting a robust 54.2 percent (13-of-24), including 66.7 percent (4-of-6) from 3-point land.
“It’s true what they say and I’ve seen it; they say offense wins games and defense wins championships,” Towns said. “So it’s important that we go back and focus on the other side of the court and be the best version that we can be. Obviously, it’s great we have a head start for us right now, statistically, where we need to be offensively to be that team. But the defense has to catch up and match that standard.”
