ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic learned Tuesday that three of their regular-season games have been rescheduled as the National Basketball Association adjusts the dates because of California wildfires and winter storms in Atlanta and New Orleans.
The rescheduled games are:
- Chicago at Orlando: This game originally was scheduled on Wednesday, March 12 but now will be played on Thursday, March 6 at 7 p.m. ET.
- Orlando at San Antonio: The game originally was scheduled on Monday, March 17 but now will be played on Tuesday, April 1 at 8 p.m. ET.
- Orlando at New Orleans: The game originally was scheduled on Sunday, April 6 but now will be played on Thursday, March 13 at 8 p.m. ET.
The changes add two back-to-back games to the Magic's schedule for this season. Orlando now is scheduled to play the Pelicans on March 13 and must fly to Minnesota to face the playoff-bound Timberwolves on March 14. They also are now scheduled to fly to San Antonio from Orlando for the April 1 game, a day after they hosted the Los Angeles Clippers on March 31. The new schedule also extends Orlando's home stand in late February and early March to seven games.
That means Orlando, which has battled significant injuries all season, will have 15 back-to-backs on its schedule compared to the 13 on its original schedule. Back-to-backs are games scheduled on consecutive days.
The Magic's games were not the only ones affected. Tuesday's schedule changes included nine new game dates, and they followed nine other reschedulings to accommodate updates that were required because of the fires in the Los Angeles area and winter storms in Atlanta and New Orleans.
The Magic entered play Tuesday with a 24-24 record, good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference. If the postseason began Tuesday, the Magic would be in the play-in tournament instead of guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. The team has lost eight of its past 10 games.
Orlando is back in action Thursday in Portland against the Trail Blazers, the first of a five-game West Coast road trip.