Game 24: Magic vs. Lakers GameThread

Who: Los Angeles Lakers (21-3) at Orlando Magic (11-12)
When: Wednesday, December 11th, 7:00 PM EST
Where: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
TV: Fox Sports Florida
Line: Los Angeles -8.5, O/U: 212
Injuries: Los Angeles - Kuzma (OUT); Orlando - Aminu (OUT), Fultz (OUT), Vucevic (OUT)

Pre-game Quotes from the Coaches

“The thing is, they’ve really done a good job. They’ve surrounded them with all these old pro’s (and they’re not even that old) - but they’re so experienced and they play an intelligent game. They’ve got the right type of guys to play with superstars.” ~ Coach Clifford on LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Lakers’ overall roster

“The thing for me is, I’m happy for him. I was with him when he was young - I’m not sure people are grasping how hard he has worked to get his body to be able to do this.” ~ Coach Clifford on Dwight Howard

“It makes me proud. The relationships you build when you’re with a team for a couple years - that’s what you take away. Those are the things that are most valuable. I would reciprocate their feeling, I pull for those guys - all the guys over there that I coached. I root for them to do well, but certainly not tonight.” ~ Coach Vogel on the kind words he’s received from his former Orlando players.

“Dwight has been fantastic, I’m really enjoying my time with him. He and I have crossed paths over the years as opponents. I’ve always had positive interactions (with him). I knew he was at a place in his career where he had to adjust to some things (in regards to the role he was going to play on teams for the rest of his career). To me, it really fit what we were looking for.” ~ Coach Vogel on Howard

Is it okay for Orlando fans to root for Dwight Howard? Our Mike Cali touched on that and more here.

The Magic released some positive news about a couple of their injured players earlier today.

Leave your pre-game and in-game comments below. Feel free to follow us on Twitter at @OPPMagicBlog. And as always - enjoy! Go Magic!