Orlando @ Golden State preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 1, 2019 ) Golden State 96, Orlando 100

The Orlando Magic split their back-to-back set against the Los Angeles teams but are playing well enough of late to not be satisfied with going 1-1 against two of the best teams in the league on the road. The Magic will try to bounce back and pull above .500 on their six-game trip when they visit the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.

Orlando, which finishes the excursion with a return to the east coast at Charlotte on Monday, knocked off the Lakers 119-118 on Wednesday but ran out of gas against the Clippers the next night and suffered a 122-95 loss. "You have to have the necessary intensity, purpose and attitude of play every night in this league, especially against a team as good as (the Clippers)," Magic coach Steve Clifford told reporters. "With our team, our attitude and our approach have been real strengths all year, but (on Thursday) it was not. I just told them, 'With our roster, we won't beat anybody playing at that intensity level.'" The Warriors are putting up good fights against some of the best teams in the league but can't seem to find their way into the win column and suffered their ninth straight loss with a 134-131 overtime setback against Denver on Thursday. "I thought our guys were great tonight," Golden State coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "They competed, they played really well together. ... When Denver came at us in the second half with multiple runs, we kept fighting. We just couldn't quite get over the hump."

TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS Florida, NBCS Bay Area

ABOUT THE MAGIC (20-22): Point guard Markelle Fultz recorded a triple-double with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against the Lakers but struggled along with the rest of his teammates against the Clippers, totaling 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting, five assists and four rebounds in 30 minutes. "Back-to-backs are part of the NBA so that's not an excuse, but I thought our mentality and focus coming into the game wasn't there to start the game off, and it hurt us," Fultz told reporters. "They got out to the lead and the energy wasn't there and you could just see it. The energy wasn't right." Power forward Aaron Gordon was a bright spot, scoring 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting Thursday after going for 21 on 7-of-12 Wednesday.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (9-33): Golden State showed some of the form that made it such a dangerous team over the last several years by handing out 36 assists on 42 field goals and placing seven scorers in double figures on Thursday, but is still missing the talent that allowed it to throttle teams on both ends of the floor. The Warriors are missing go-to scorers with Stephen Curry (hand) and Klay Thompson (knee) injured and lack the defensive punch that Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston provided. Alec Burks led the team with 25 points in 32 minutes off the bench Thursday while Damion Lee, who signed a multi-year deal with the team on Wednesday, scored 21 points.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Magic PG D.J. Augustin was diagnosed with a left knee bone irritation on Thursday and will miss at least the next 3-to-4 weeks.

2. Warriors SG Jacob Evans (concussion, broken nose) sat out Thursday and is in the league's concussion protocol.

3. Orlando knocked off Golden State 100-96 on Dec. 1 as SG Evan Fournier went off for 32 points.

PREDICTION: Magic 107, Warriors 101