Denver @ Orlando preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 5, 2018 ) Denver 124, Orlando 118

Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone was irate at his team after its last contest. The Nuggets will try to please their coach and break a two-game skid when they visit the Orlando Magic on Saturday night.

The previously winless New Orleans Pelicans outclassed the Nuggets 122-107 on Thursday and Malone ripped the lackluster performance. "I'm embarrassed," Malone said during his postgame press conference. "That was an embarrassing effort defensively. Gave up 37 fast-break points. You can give all the transition defense rules that you want. To me, transition defense boils down to one thing - effort. Get back. You can tell them. You can lead a horse to water, whatever analogy you want to use. We did not get back." Denver will face an Orlando team that also was embarrassed in its last game as the Milwaukee Bucks trounced the host Magic 123-91 on Friday night. "The people most responsible for how hard a team plays every night is the head coach and the best players," Orlando coach Steve Clifford said after the loss. "That's how the NBA works. Nobody else -- the head coach and the best players. ... So hopefully we will all do better (on Saturday), starting with me and the best players. We'll see if we can do better."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, Altitude (Denver), FS Florida (Orlando)

ABOUT THE NUGGETS (3-2): Backup forward Michael Porter Jr. made his long-awaited debut against New Orleans and scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 21 minutes. Porter was the 14th overall selection in the 2018 NBA Draft but missed all of last season due to back surgery and he wasn't inserted into any of Denver's first four games of the season. "It was cool and it was fun, but I was trying to win," Porter said afterward. "I'm not really in a great mood right now. At the end of the day, it's amazing to make my NBA debut, I thank the Lord for the opportunity, but I was trying to get a win."

ABOUT THE MAGIC (2-3): Veteran swingman Terrence Ross matched his season high of 11 points on Friday but was a porous 4-of-15 shooting and has made just 24.6 percent through five games, including a woeful 6-of-35 from 3-point range. Ross was just 1-of-10 shooting in the previous game against the New York Knicks and he said he just needs to stay the course until things turn around. "Shots are not falling and they're not going to fall all the time, but I've just got to keep shooting and the rest will come," Ross told reporters after the loss to the Bucks. "I think once we play better as a team, I'll start to get into a rhythm better. Once the offense starts to click, I think everyone's individual game will start to click."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Nuggets have won the past six meetings, including both of last season's matchups.

2. Denver swingman Will Barton (toe) could sit out for the second consecutive contest.

3. Orlando PG Michael Carter-Williams (hip) will likely miss his second straight game.

PREDICTION: Nuggets 114, Magic 107