What: Charlotte Hornets (4-6-) (1-3 away) at Orlando Magic (5-6) (4-0 home)

When: 7:00pm Eastern

Where: Kia Center; Orlando, FL

How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets–Association (white), Magic–Statement (blue)

Game Lines: Hornets +7.5, Hornets money line +280, O/U 212.5

Injuries:
Hornets: Tre Mann-questionable (back), Miles Bridges-out (knee), Mark Williams-out (foot), Nick Richards-out (ribs), DaQuan Jeffries-out (hand)

Magic: Paolo Banchero-out (oblique), Wendell Carter Jr.-out (foot)

It’s the NBA Cup coming at you through your television screens. In case you forgot how it worked, this is a regular season game that also counts as a group stage game for the cup. You’ll know it’s a cup game because it’s going to be on a crazy court. The Magic’s court is gray, so it’s one of the more muted ones.

The Magic are trying to find their footing after their star, Paolo Banchero, went down with a torn oblique in late October. Banchero had gotten off to a scorching start to the season and was just one game removed from a 50 point outing against the Pacers. The Magic lost four straight after his injury but have since won their last two contests in blowout fashion, though those were against the Wizards and a flailing Pelicans team.

Franz Wagner is the danger man with Banchero out. He’s led the Magic in scoring in each of the last five games and is averaging 21.7 points per game without Banchero. He’s been the only consistent offensive threat. Jalen Suggs can be a menace and brother Mo Wagner has some moments, but otherwise it’s scoring by committee. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Gary Harris can theoretically make threes, but that hasn’t happened that much yet. Cole Anthony has become a total nonfactor.

The Magic are grinding out their wins with bad offense but slightly better defense. It’s been their MO ever since Jamahl Mosley took over as head coach. For the Hornets to win, they need to take care of the ball much better than they have been. The Magic have also been very good at limiting opponents 3-point attempts, which is going to make it tough for a Hornets team that’s been very reliant on the 3-point shot. LaMelo Ball and the other Hornets ball handlers need to be aggressive attacking the paint to counter that. It would be nice to have Miles Bridges for that, but the injury bug won’t let us have anything.