Bulls-Magic Preview

The Orlando Magic have dropped consecutive games only twice this season, so they'd figure to be in good position to bounce back from a defeat when they host the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.

If they play anything like they did the last time they faced the Bulls, they almost certainly won't.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy blasted his team after a blowout loss in Chicago last month, and Orlando looks to avoid provoking similar postgame comments from him when the Bulls visit Amway Arena.

The Magic (46-17) lost their first two games of the season and dropped back-to-back games against Boston and Miami in late January, but those occasions represent their longest losing streaks of 2008-09.

Despite that consistency and a 10 1/2-game lead in the Southeast Division, Van Gundy hasn't always been happy with his team's play. The Magic had won four in a row -- including a victory at Boston on Sunday -- before heading to Detroit to face a Pistons club that had knocked them from the playoffs the past two seasons.

Detroit has dominated the regular-season meetings as well, and that continued Monday. Dwight Howard finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds, but Hedo Turkoglu left in the second half with an injury and the Pistons beat Orlando 98-94.

It was Detroit's third consecutive win in the series and 17th in the last 20 matchups.

"Have you ever seen the movie 'Groundhog Day' -- it is the same story over and over," Van Gundy said. "All three games this year have been winnable, and we haven't gotten them."

Van Gundy's frustration in Detroit, however, paled in comparison to his emotions after the Magic lost 120-102 in Chicago on Feb. 24. Orlando allowed the Bulls (29-35) to shoot a season-high 56.5 percent.

"I'm embarrassed and disgusted by what I saw," Van Gundy said after that game. "I don't know if our players are, but they should be.

"Our guys want to talk about being a contending team. We're still not tough enough and we don't play hard enough."

One of the keys to Orlando being a contending team is Turkoglu, but he's day-to-day with a left Achilles' strain.

The Magic could certainly use him. They're 23-3 when Turkoglu scores 20 points or more, something he hasn't done against Chicago this season even though Orlando won the first two meetings.

The Bulls played well on the first stop of their Florida trip, but a season-high 43 points from Ben Gordon weren't enough to lift them past Miami on Monday night. That's because Dwyane Wade finished with 48, capping his performance with a steal and running 3-pointer as time expired to give the Heat a 130-127 double-overtime win.

"That was probably the toughest loss," Gordon said. "... That is how the game was going to end. Whoever made the last, best play was going to win the game."

The Bulls are 4-8 when Gordon scores 28 points or more.

There's no doubt Gordon is Chicago's best scorer, but John Salmons is starting to give coach Vinny Del Negro another strong offensive option to go with rookie Derrick Rose. Salmons, acquired from Sacramento on Feb. 18, has averaged 24.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in his last three games.

While the Bulls tend to struggle when Gordon has a big game, they thrive when Rose is carrying the load. Chicago is 15-7 when the top pick in the 2008 draft scores at least 21 points.

Rose scored 22 in the Bulls' win over Orlando last month.