The Los Angeles Lakers look to extend their winning streak to seven as they clash against the undermanned-but-feisty Orlando Magic.

Catch the game tomorrow at 11:30 AM, Manila time.

AWAY: Orlando Magic (9-7, 2-7 AWAY)

Projected starting five:

• Jalen Suggs
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
• Franz Wagner
• Paolo Banchero (out) / Tristan Da Silva
• Wendell Carter Jr. (out) / Mo Wagner

The Magic are growing by the day. While they will be coming off a loss to the LA Clippers, note that they just had a six-game winning streak despite Paolo Banchero’s absence (oblique), where they scored 108.5 points per game with an impressive winning margin of 17.5 points. That still says a lot about the fight in this team.

Second-fiddle Franz Wagner (22.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 5.1 APG) has been doing a good job filling some of the void left by Banchero, and he’ll have another opportunity to prove himself further. He struggled in the loss to LAC, shooting a quiet 5-of-11 for 14 points, but every game is different, so we’ll see.

What makes this Orlando team interesting is the rest of the group is very diverse. Franz’s older brother, Mo, is a serviceable big (filling in for the injured Wendell Carter Jr.), guard Jalen Suggs is an All-Defensive team member, other guard Anthony Black is a growing facilitator, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a veteran ‘3 and D’ guy, and guys like Jonathan Isaac, Goga Bitadze, and rookie Tristan Da Silva round it out with more hustle and defense.

HOME: Los Angeles Lakers (10-4, 7-0 HOME)

Projected starting five:

• D’Angelo Russell
• Austin Reaves
• Rui Hachimura (day-to-day) / Dalton Knecht
• LeBron James
• Anthony Davis

The Lakers are feeling good about themselves riding a six-game winning streak. They are putting up 119.2 points per game and giving up 110.7 on the other end in that span.

The LeBron James (23.5 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 9.4 APG) and Anthony Davis (30.7 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 1.3 SPG, 1.8 BPG) tandem still headline the attack, with the former playing like the ageless wonder that he is, and the latter being an early top MVP candidate. The scheme has been designed for Davis to produce more, and it’s been evident in the numbers how well he’s taking advantage of the opportunity. He has a favorable matchup against the Magic’s bigs, but not if he doesn’t put in work, especially since they have a great team defense.

Guards Austin Reaves (17.9 PPG, 5.4 APG) and D’Angelo Russell (11.8 PPG, 4.9 APG) will be the secondary weapons. Of course, there’s rookie Dalton Knecht too (11.4 PPG), the talk of the town for the past week or so.

The 23-year-old has stepped up while Rui Hachimura is hurt, and he’s proving that he belongs, and should probably be a starter. He’s coming off a career-high, 37-point performance that included nine three-pointers, which tied an NBA rookie record. The kid’s confidence is at a high, and it’ll be fun to see his progression.

PICKS:

Spread: Magic (+6)

Over/Under: Over (217.5)