Orlando @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 27, 2019 ) Orlando 0, Toronto 0

Pascal Siakam is warming to the role as a go-to player through the first three games of the season and the 25-year-old power forward looks to continue his hot streak when the Toronto Raptors host the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Siakam is averaging 28.7 points along with 10.7 rebounds, and has drained 8-of-17 from 3-point range to help the Raptors win two of three contests to start the post-Kawhi Leonard era.

Siakam was held to a team-high 19 points Saturday in Chicago, but Toronto picked up its intensity on the defensive end of the floor while holding the Bulls to 29.9 percent from the floor in a 108-84 rout after beginning the two-game trip with a six-point loss at Boston. The teams split four regular-season contests in 2018-19 and the Magic won the opener of their first-round playoff series in Toronto before the Raptors won the last four to begin their road to an NBA championship. Orlando thinks it can go a bit farther this season while bringing back the same squad, with a few key additions, and it got off to a good start with a win over Cleveland before shooting 35.4 percent from the field and missing 26 of its 31 shots from 3-point range in Saturday’s 103-99 setback at Atlanta. “We talked about the quality of shots (against Cleveland), the amount of open shots we had with no defenders near us,” Magic coach Steve Clifford told reporters. “We gotta make some of those if we want to win.”

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Orlando), Sportsnet East, Sportsnet One, Sportsnet West, Sportsnet Ontario (Toronto)

ABOUT THE MAGIC (1-1): Shooting guard Evan Fourner led the way with 23 points in Saturday’s loss and tops the team at 19.5 per game in the early going - just ahead of All-Star center Nikola Vucevic (18.5, 10 rebounds). Versatile forward Aaron Gordon is off to a slow start, connecting on just 6-of-18 from the field - 1-of-4 from behind the arc - while averaging 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds. Point guard Markelle Fultz, the former first-overall pick of Philadelphia, scored 12 points in each of his first two games with Orlando and finished with three assists along with no turnovers in 24 minutes at Atlanta.

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (2-1): Siakam has had plenty of help on the offensive end in the early going with Kyle Lowry stepping up to score 62 points in the first three games despite managing just 11 in Saturday’s victory. Fellow guard Fred VanVleet (19.3 points) connected on 12-of-18 from the field in the season-opening win over New Orleans, but has made just seven of his 25 attempts from the floor in the past two. Forward OG Anunoby scored a season-high 17 points versus Chicago and VanVleet told reporters: “The way (Anunoby) played (Saturday), if he plays like that we’ll be a tough team to deal with.”

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Vucevic needs 20 points to pass Jameer Nelson (8,184) for fourth on the franchise's all-time scoring list.

2. Toronto F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (groin) had one point in four minutes during his debut with the team Saturday.

3. Orlando F Jonathan Isaac has struggled with his shooting (4-of-13), but has blocked six shots in the first two games.

PREDICTION: Magic 110, Raptors 106