Brooklyn @ Orlando preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 20, 2017 ) Orlando 121, Brooklyn 126

The Brooklyn Nets are trying to play with pace, crash the lane and fire from long distance in coach Kenny Atkinson's offense and so far, it's working. The Nets will try to earn their third win - second over the Magic - and keep up the pace when they visit Orlando on Tuesday.

Brooklyn is averaging 124.3 points and is second in the NBA going into Monday's action in free-throw attempts (33.7) while shooting 37.6 percent from 3-point range, putting the team above .500 for the first time since it was 4-3 on Nov. 12, 2014. "Our habits are improving," Atkinson told reporters after a 116-104 win over Atlanta on Sunday. "Our attention to detail is improving. We still have a long way to go. ... We have to be more disciplined, but I do see improvement." Some of that improvement was evident on Friday at home against Orlando, when the Nets placed six scorers in double figures and had three more players score nine points in a 126-121 victory. That marked the only loss in the first three games of the Magic, who rebounded from that setback with one of the most impressive victories of the young season in the entire league - a 114-93 triumph at Cleveland on Saturday.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FSN Florida (Orlando)

ABOUT THE NETS (2-1): Brooklyn guard D'Angelo Russell is taking on a bigger role as the playmaker with Jeremy Lin (knee) sidelined, and he handed out a season-high 10 assists in Sunday's win to boost his averages to 21 points and seven assists. Russell is getting some help on the offensive end from sixth man Allen Crabbe, who broke out for a team-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting on Sunday. "The basket looks bigger and bigger after each one I make," Crabbe told reporters. "Just playing with confidence, I think that’s going to be my biggest thing."

ABOUT THE MAGIC (2-1): Orlando center Nikola Vucevic scored a career-high 41 points on 17-of-22 shooting in the loss at Brooklyn and followed it up with another efficient performance by scoring 23 points on 11-of-16 from the floor at Cleveland. Vucevic's efforts on the interior opened up space on the perimeter, and the Magic were able to knock down 17 3-pointers in the win. "We’re starting to play offensively consistently the right way in terms of not settling and understanding that we want to attack early and the ball is really hopping," coach Frank Vogel told reporters. "We’re scoring the ball well and shooting the ball well as a result of the ball movement and the quality of our shots."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Magic SF Jonathan Simmons is averaging 13.7 points on 51.9 percent shooting in 23.3 minutes off the bench.

2. Brooklyn PF Trevor Booker is averaging 17 points on 59.4 percent shooting and recorded two double-doubles in the first three games.

3. The home team took each of the last five meetings in the series.

PREDICTION: Magic 120, Nets 115