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Season series: Magic 116, Nets 101 in Orlando on Oct. 25; Tonight in Brooklyn; December 1 in Brooklyn; December 29th in Orlando

Our record: 14-6/8-12 ATS

The Orlando Magic are just getting started. They have won 10 of their last 11 games and their defense is as strong and dominant as ever.

They are feasting on a weakness in their schedule. And like last year, they dominate some of the worst teams in the league. They are 10-2 against teams with records under .500 (only the Cleveland Cavaliers are better at 11-1).

The critics and skeptics might say that this is a sign to look into the magic. Their record is not yet backed up by major victories.

Still, everyone has seen this Magic team step up when needed. Most of their losses came during a five-game losing streak while they were on the road dealing with the fallout from Paolo Banchero’s injury. The team has come a long way since then. And it’s an important skill to be able to beat the opponent standing in front of you.

The Magic will get to showcase that ability again in a place where they have struggled to win.

Since opening in 2012, Orlando has won just four times in 21 games at Barclays Center. That includes the loss in the opening game of the NBA Cup last year.

The Magic learned their lesson from that 20-point loss. That loss cost the Magic a chance to advance to the quarterfinals of the first tournament. The Magic know exactly what these games mean.

Brooklyn is coming off a blowout win at Phoenix on Wednesday, capping a 3-1 road trip that includes winning all three games on the West Coast. The Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers are the only two teams with top-10 offenses to beat the Magic. Orlando still has a lot to prove.

Brooklyn’s offense will definitely take a hit with some failures in this game. Dennis Schroder is out for personal reasons. Cam Thomas is also out with a left hamstring strain. Nic Claxton (lower back injury treatment) and Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle sprain) are both QUESTIONABLE.

Their absences will play a big role in this game. The Nets need their veterans to survive.

3. Make it big

The Orlando Magic welcomed Wendell Carter back into the lineup in their win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Coach Jamahl Mosley emphasized that the game wasn’t about Wendell Carter’s scoring stats. They just wanted him to be reintegrated into the group.

But Mosley is a bit out of control with his starting lineup. He brought Wendell Carter into the starting lineup alongside Goga Bitadze. As the league got smaller, Mosley and the Magic decided to get bigger. This is part of the general trend of going against the grain and finding success with this team.

Whether this regulation works or not is still the question. But it worked against the Bulls.

The lineups featuring Carter and Bitadze have combined to outscore their opponents 42-29 in 14 minutes in two games (almost all of which came in Wednesday’s game). The Magic shot 16-for-25 from the floor and 5-for-10 from three.

It’s just a game. But the Brooklyn Nets aren’t much stronger defensively than the Chicago Bulls. It will be interesting to see if the Magic return to this lineup a second time.

2. The veteran difference

The Brooklyn Nets were expected to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Conference this year. They weren’t expected to make much of a splash or be competitive. But in the first quarter of the season, Brooklyn is in the play-in chase.

That’s due in large part to the usual reason these young teams have success early in the season: their veterans.

If there was one takeaway from the Orlando Magic’s win over the Brooklyn Nets in their home opener, it was that the Nets struggled to operate with a veteran point guard like Dennis Schroder on the bench.

The numbers prove that.

The Nets have a net rating of +2.6 with Dennis Schroder on the field – and a net rating of +4.7 with Nic Claxton on the field and a net rating of +6.9 with Dorian Finney-Smith on the field. These three include most of the five players with positive on-court net ratings on this team.

As expected, the Nets have the team’s worst net rating of -9.4 with Schroder from the field and a -8.9 net rating with Finney-Smith from the field.

Veterans make a difference. And with Schroder out for personal reasons and Claxton and Finney-Smth questionable due to various injuries, the Nets could be without three of their most important players.

1. NBA Cup Math

As we enter the final two days of NBA Cup group play, the math becomes more complicated when it comes to figuring out which teams are needed to advance from group play. Unlike last year, the Orlando Magic won’t wait on the final day and hope they make it. The Magic still have two NBA Cup games left.

The simplest part of this equation is that the Orlando Magic will win Group A if they win their next two Cup games – Friday at the Brooklyn Nets and Tuesday at the New York Knicks. In all likelihood, the Orlando Magic will win these two games and get a home game in the quarterfinals (the Milwaukee Bucks caught them in three games with a point differential of +29 to the Magic’s +37). They could easily still win the top seeds in the East.

Additionally, the Magic are in a good position to win the Wild Card if they don’t win Group A. That depends on Tuesday’s game, with only the point difference in Friday’s game determining where the Magic stand.

Orlando is 2-0 with a difference of +37 points. Only Milwaukee currently has a lead of +20 points. But the Boston Celtics (2-1, +14) and Cleveland Cavaliers (1-1, +15) are just around the corner. They remain the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.

Still, the Magic have the opportunity to advance with two wins or a narrow loss in one of their two remaining Cup games in this tournament.