Orlando Magic @ Oklahoma City Thunder

Yardbarker.com

The Orlando Magic saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end with a 92-89 overtime loss to the Hornets in New Orleans Wednesday night. They’ll try to get back on the right track when they travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder Thursday night in a nationally televised game.

The Thunder have now won three straight games, including a 118-112 win over the Rockets in Houston Wednesday night. That victory upped the Thunder’s record to 26-13. The Thunder are tied for first in the Northwest division with the Utah Jazz and have the fourth best record in the Western Conference. The Magic, at 25-13, are tied for third with the Chicago Bulls in the Western Conference and are four games behind the Miami Heat in the Southeast division.

These two teams split the season series last year with each team winning on their home court.

The Thunder are 12th in pace (93.3) ninth in offensive rating(109.0), and 17th in defensive rating (107.0).

The Magic are 18th in pace (92.0), 13th in offensive rating (106.9) and fourth in defensive rating (101.1)

The game will be shown nationally on TNT and locally on FSN Florida. As always, if you can’t watch the game, you can listen on the radio – in English on AM 580 WDBO and in Spanish on AM 1270 WRLZ.

Tip off from the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is scheduled for 8:00 pm EST.

The Line: Orlando – 1.0

Starters:

Oklahoma City Thunder

Nenad Kristic
Jeff Green
Kevin Durant
Thabo Sefolosha
Russell Westbrook

Orlando Magic

Dwight Howard
Brandon Bass
Hedo Turkoglu
Jason Richardson
Jameer Nelson

For the Magic, Malik Allen is questionable with a sprained left ankle while Daniel Orton (left knee surgery) and Jason Williams (arthritis in feet) are out indefinitely.

The officials will be Marc Davis, Tommy Nunez Jr., and Zach Zarba,

Opponent To Watch: James Harden, G – Either Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are the obvious choices but Harden is a guy who the Thunder think can put them over the top. Harden even participated for a couple of days in the Orlando Pro Summer League. The third overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft is averaging 10.8 points per game and is shooting 41.5% from beyond the arc. Harden was good against the Magic last season, averaging 14.0 points per game on 47.4% shooting. He also dished out 4.0 assists and grabbed 3.5 rebounds per game in two meetings with Orlando last year.

What To Watch For: The Thunder will offer a different challenge than the Hornets. They are much better offensive team and play at a much faster pace. It’s going to be quite a challenge for the Magic, who have struggled on the defensive end as of late (although they played petty well Wednesday night), to slow down the Thunder offense. The Magic offense, which had a terrible night Wednesday in their loss to the Hornets, should have a better night against the Thunder, who rank just 17th in the league in defensive efficiency.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).