Road-weary Magic looking to take advantage of homestand

The Orlando Magic (8-39) are finally getting what they’ve been waiting on for nearly two months: a lengthy homestand.

Friday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers kicked off a set of five consecutive games at Amway Center that continue against the Chicago Bulls (28-16) on Sunday and ultimately end against the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 30.

The stretch of games will be the Magic’s longest homestand since Nov. 3 through Nov. 13 and the first time they’ve played more than three consecutive games at home since then.

“That’s needed,” said Wendell Carter Jr., who had 19 points and 5 rebounds off the bench in limited minutes (19) against the Lakers after missing the previous seven games with left hamstring soreness, “especially with what’s going on for us right now. We’ve played a lot of road games. To have this homestand is good. [To] be able to come back in and get extra work in at night — that’ll play a huge part in our success.”

Orlando’s 28 road games were a league-high entering Sunday.

The Magic and the Charlotte Hornets are the only teams who’ve played fewer than 20 home games, with both teams scheduled to cross that threshold on Sunday.

For the Magic, that’s cut back on the number of practices they’ve been able to have because of travel days.

“You get to sleep in your own bed — that’s my favorite part,” said rookie guard Jalen Suggs. “It allows us to get in the gym, be home and get good rest. This is a big stretch for us. We’ve gotten to learn on the road the past couple of weeks where we’ve had some close ones. Now we have a stretch to snag a couple here.”

The homestand will also give the Magic the opportunity to fix their league-worst home record (2-17).

The Magic’s (10.5%) winning percentage in home games is three times worse than the league’s next-worst home team (Detroit Pistons — 7-14 at home, 33.3% winning percentage).

With a matchup against the Pistons on Jan. 28, the Magic will have an opportunity to turn around their home struggles.

“It’s always a good thing to play in front of the home crowd,” said guard Cole Anthony. “Have people cheering for you. Hopefully, we can get some people cheering for us and not cheering for the other team. We’re just going to come in and give it our all. [We’ve] got to be better. We’re going to continue to get better.”

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Khobi Price at khprice@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @khobi_price.