Miami @ Orlando preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 17, 2019 ) Miami 107, Orlando 98

The Miami Heat look to record their seventh victory in the past eight games when they visit the Orlando Magic on Friday. Miami bounced back from Monday's road loss to the Washington Wizards to post an 84-76 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday and hasn't dropped consecutive games all season.

The Heat allowed their fewest points of the season and limited Toronto to 31.5 percent from the field and 6-of-42 from 3-point range in the hard-fought victory. "We understand that every game we have to grind," Miami point guard Goran Dragic told reporters of the latest win. "It's not easy in a lot of games." Orlando rolled to an easy 122-101 victory over the host Wizards on Wednesday but could be without power forward Aaron Gordon (Achilles) for the third consecutive game. The Magic had dropped eight of 11 contests prior to the win over Washington and the matchup with the Heat is the opener of a four-game homestand.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Sun, FS Florida

ABOUT THE HEAT (25-9): The 84 points were the second-fewest of the season for a winning NBA team as Miami scored 21 or fewer points in three of the quarters while clamping down Toronto's offense. "You can see they scored 76 so it was all about defense," Dragic told the media. "We feel like we play great defense. Most of the time, we were in zone. But a great team win and let's go to the next one." Star forward Jimmy Butler was 2-of-10 shooting for eight points - his second lowest output of the season - but contributed 12 rebounds and seven assists.

ABOUT THE MAGIC (15-19): Emerging forward Jonathan Isaac will be sidelined for at last eight-to-10 weeks after being diagnosed with a severely sprained left knee and bone contusion, stemming from hyperextending the knee after colliding with Washington star Bradley Beal on Wednesday. Orlando president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said an MRI exam displayed there was no damage to the ACL or other ligaments and that the 22-year-old who is averaging 12 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots should make a complete recovery. "I’ve never hurt my knee before, so as soon as it happened, I just naturally started thinking the worst," Isaac said after Wednesday's win. "But as I was down there (on the floor), it started feeling better and better and that was a reassurance that I was going to be OK."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Magic went 3-1 versus the Heat last season and have prevailed in eight of the past 11 meetings.

2. Miami C Bam Adebayo recorded 15 points and 14 rebounds Thursday for his fourth double-double in the past five games.

3. Orlando PG D.J. Augustin scored a season-high 25 points in the win over Washington for his third 20-point effort of the season.

PREDICTION: Magic 92, Heat 90