The Portland Trail Blazers travel south to face the Orlando Magic at Amway Center on Monday.

The Trail Blazers (17-25) have been playing an uphill battle all season, and the mountain seems to be getting steeper by the day. They've had to play without C.J. McCollum for a month now, and it led to one of the worst stretches in the Damian Lillard era. He's the one who went down most recently, though, getting abductor surgery just last week. That means the two guards that carry this team will miss significant time this season, and it's led to Portland losing 17 of their last 24 games coming into this matchup. There have been some signs recently, though, winning three of their last four. Anfernee Simons has been the one stepping up with these guys out, averaging nearly 30 points and 10 assists over his last six games played. He needs to keep doing that but this hole is looking too deep to dig out of.

The Magic (8-36) just snapped a 10-game losing streak over the weekend but look well on their way to more losing streaks in the future. They followed up that rare win with a blowout loss against Dallas on Saturday, and it simply looks like this team doesn't have the talent to match up with their opponents. Having the worst record in the NBA is definitely an indicator of that, but there are some young players to get excited about. Franz Wagner and Cole Anthony look like the stars in the backcourt, but Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter aren't too bad in the frontcourt either. That's plenty to build around, and as long as the progression continues, this won't be a lost season.

Portland swept the two-game season series over Orlando last year. That gives them nine straight wins over them in total, dating all the way back to 2016.