The Orlando Magic host the Sacramento Kings at the KIA Center on Thursday, March 26, at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Magic are 38-34 and tenth in the East with a 21-14 home record, while the Kings are 19-54 and 15th in the West with a 6-29 road record.
The Magic are coming off a close 136-131 loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, their sixth loss in a row, while the Kings fell to a one-sided 134-90 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday as well. This is their second and final encounter of the season, with the Magic winning their last matchup 131-94 on February 19, 2026.
The Magic are led by Paolo Banchero, who’s averaging 22.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. His co-star, Franz Wagner, has spent the majority of the season injured, so in his absence, Desmon Bane will hope to have a big impact, with the guard averaging 20.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists over the season.
The Kings have had the majority of their stars ruled out for the last few months, but will have DeMar DeRozan available, who’s averaging 18.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists this season. DeRozan won’t have veteran Russell Westbrook as his co-star, with Westbrook averaging 15.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 6.7 assists this season, but ruled out for this game.
The Magic will be looking to defeat the Kings and put themselves back on track after falling to No. 10 in the East because of their losing streak. The Kings will likely play to lose and maintain their grip on the worst record in the NBA, but DeRozan and Westbrook are wildcards who could lead an upset.
Injury Report
Magic
Jalen Suggs: Questionable (illness)
Anthony Black: Out (abdomen)
Franz Wagner: Out (ankle)
Jonathan Isaac: Out (knee)
Kings
Killian Hayes: Questionable (toe)
Precious Achiuwa: Questionable (back)
Isaiah Stevens: Questionable (ankle)
Russell Westbrook: Out (toe)
Nique Clifford: Out (foot)
Domantas Sabonis: Out (knee)
Zach LaVine: Out (finger)
De’Andre Hunter: Out (eye)
Keegan Murray: Out (ankle)
Drew Eubanks: Out (left thumb soreness)
Why The Magic Have The Advantage
The Magic need a win to reverse their fortunes after dropping their last six straight, with the last three losses coming with a total margin of eight points. They’ve struggled on the court but have also had some poor luck, two issues that they can straighten out against a fledgling Kings roster.
For a team that’s lost its last three games in the clutch, the Magic still possess the third-most clutch wins in the NBA with 23 on the season. A few plays here and there, and their record could look a lot better, but they’ll hope their advantages give them enough headroom over the Kings. They have a 115.4 offensive rating and 114.5 defensive rating this season, still being a positive team on the season with +0.9 net rating. While absences like Wagner and Black are hard to overcome, the Kings are the kind of opponents those wins should come easily against.
The Magic lead the Kings in almost every measurable metric this season. Orlando is scoring 115.7 points (15th) while the Kings are scoring 110.8 (28th). The Magic are rebounding 43.4 times per game (19th), as the Kings are lagging with 30.9 (25th) per game. Same story for steals and blocks, where the Magic have 8.6 steals (16th) and 4.8 blocks (17th) per game compared to Sacramento’s 8.1 steals (20th) and 4.5 blocks (20th).
The closest contest between them comes in assists, but even there, the Magic have assists 26.4 per game (15th) compared to the Kings’ 25.6 (18th). Orlando has advantages everywhere you look heading into this clash, even without two key starters.
Why The Kings Have The Advantage
There actually isn’t a single measurable way of explaining how the Kings have an advantage over the Magic. Even Orlando’s biggest weakness, their outside shooting, is somehow better than Sacramento’s, who take the least amount of threes in the NBA (29.9) and converts them at the worst percentage (33.9 3P%). There is only one way the Kings can claim to have an advantage.
The presence of a scorer like DeRozan is the only advantage Sacramento can hang its hat on. DeRozan is the best isolation scorer across both teams and is motivated to keep putting up numbers regardless of the result due to his chase of the top-ten in all-time NBA scoring. This willingness to score openly might lead to bad basketball, but it could lead to a win if DeRozan catches fire.
The unpredictability of the Kings’ roster might be their biggest weapon, not named DeRozan, as it has to be really challenging to gameplan for the Kings, given most of their core rotation isn’t playing. Randomness can be a useful weapon, and the Kings will hope to deploy it if they have any chance at winning.
X-Factors
Jalen Suggs is questionable for this game but is expected to make his return after missing the last game. Suggs is averaging 13.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists this season and will be the Magic’s key ball-handler and starting point guard. His defense is ever-reliable, but he’ll hope to have a big offensive night against a weak defense like Sacramento’s in this game.
Wendell Carter Jr. has been making headlines as Angel Reese’s boyfriend, but the Magic center has had a strong season on the court as well. He’s averaging 11.9 points and 7.5 rebounds this season, playing his role as a vital interior presence for the franchise. While he is usually consistent, if he can have a strong outing here, the Kings might be blown out of the gate from opening tip.
Devin Carter is one of the only young players the Kings have reason to be excited for, as the 24-year-old guard is averaging 7.5 points this season, but has averaged 19.3 points in the last three games. He’s speedy and capable of creating havoc against organized defenses, given his ability to drive-and-dish with strong accuracy. If he can have a big scoring night, the Kings will pose a challenge they didn’t come close to in their 43-point loss to the Grizzlies last time out.
King rookie Maxime Raynaud has had a breakout season, averaging 11.9 points and 7.3 rebounds all season. The injury absences suffered by Domantas Sabonis left room for Raynaud to receive major minutes and have great success in them, with many valuing the young Frenchman highly going forward. With Carter’s deficiencies defensively, this might be the perfect opponent for Raynaud to highlight the full extent of his skill set.
Prediction
The Magic shouldn’t have too difficult a time overcoming the Kings in this contest. There really isn’t any advantage the Kings can rely on to earn this win outside of hoping the Magic continue to struggle from shooting outside or closing out clutch games. However, the Kings don’t have the same competitive incentive as recent Magic opponents, such as the Cavaliers or Lakers, had to pull out a hard win.
Prediction: Magic 115, Kings 102
