ORLANDO, Fla. — After six straight losing seasons the Orlando Magic look to turn the page starting Wednesday night in the 30th anniversary season opener at Amway Center.
- Steve Clifford will make his head coaching debut with Magic Wednesday night
- The team plans to honor late owner Rich DeVos during the pregame
- Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic were named team captains
The Magic will host the Miami Heat at a 7 p.m. with the team planning a special tribute to team owner Rich DeVos during the pre-game, as he passed on September 6.
Tonight's starting lineup:
- Johnathan Isaac
- Aaron Gordon
- Nikola Vucevic
- Evan Fournier
- D.J. Augustin
This year the team will step out for the first time under new head Coach Steve Clifford who found success turning Charlotte around at his last stop.
On Tuesday Clifford named Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic as the team’s captains — something that hadn’t been done in the previous six seasons.
“I think all three of them have a real thirst to win and get going in the right direction,” Clifford said. “They’ve all been leaders to me, through all this, in their own way.”
Last year the team was famished with injuries with a total of 216 games missed from regular rotational players. The team finished with a record of 29-53 and hasn’t had a winning season since Dwight Howard left in 2012.
Since then the team has also worked through five different head coaches.