This is a dangerous, flat spot for Oklahoma City. The Thunder were impressive in beating San Antonio, 112-106, at home two nights ago. Up next for the Thunder following this game is a home game on Sunday versus 1-0 Denver followed by a road game against Houston on Monday.

Orlando has been stockpiling talent for the past couple of seasons and now it's ready to pay dividends. The Magic nearly upset Washington in their opener, losing by one point when John Wall hit a shot with 12 seconds left. Orlando led by eight in the fourth quarter. The Magic nearly beat the Wizards despite missing 21 of 26 shots from 3-point range.

The Magic have a number of young players poised for breakout seasons - Victor Oladipo, Tobias Harris, Elfrid Payton - plus a steady, double-double machine in big man Nik Vucevic.

The Thunder are going to have to deal with the distraction of Billy Donovan returning to Florida. A more quiet factor is the Magic are much better coached this season with Scott Skiles on the bench. He has a track record of turning around bad teams having done it three times.