It's Friday, let's go.
10 things I like and don't like
1. Oh, oh, it's Magic!
The Magic are real -- maybe not .750 winning percentage real, or Aaron-Gordon-shooting-55-percent-from-deep real, but real enough to hang in the race for one of the East's last three playoff spots. None among the Philly/Detroit/Charlotte/Miami quartet seems poised to run away.
Hot shooting from Gordon (at power forward full time, finally!), D.J. Augustin, and Nikola Vucevic has blown open what used to be a clogged floor. When Vucevic rumbles to the rim after setting a screen -- something he's doing more this season, per Synergy Sports -- he's rolling into daylight:
Gordon has boasted of latent superstar ball-handling potential, but he's staying (mostly) within himself; he has launched just 11 shots out of the pick-and-roll, per Synergy.