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Red-hot Nets invade Magic Kingdom

Nov 30, 2012 - 3:49 PM (Sports Network) - The Brooklyn Nets will begin their tour through the Sunshine State when they take on the Orlando Magic Friday night.

The Nets will also visit the defending champion Miami Heat in their three- game road trip and got the trek started with Wednesday's 95-83 victory in Boston. Joe Johnson scored 18 points and Jerry Stackhouse provided 17 off the bench for the Nets, who have won four in a row to improve to 10-4.

Brooklyn played without forwards Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace for most of the evening after they were involved in a scuffle with a few Celtics players, most notably Rajon Rondo, who was suspended two games for going after Humphries for what he thought was a hard foul on Kevin Garnett.

"(We were) mentally tough," said Nets coach Avery Johnson. "Lot of fiber on our team. And a battle. They battled and they fought hard, literally I guess. And they just didn't give in. They didn't give in to any adversity tonight. We had a lot of adversity on the court on the road."

Andray Blatche had 17 points and 13 rebounds in the win. The Nets are tied with New York atop the Atlantic Division and are 7-1 against the East. A win Friday would give them the best road start in franchise history since 2007-08 (4-3).

Brooklyn is 9-1 this season when holding the opposition under 100 points. Center Brook Lopez will miss Friday's game with a sprained right foot.

Orlando will wrap up a five-game homestand Friday night and has lost four of its last six games. In a 110-89 loss to San Antonio on Wednesday, Arron Afflalo netted a team-high 16 points and grabbed five boards, while Jameer Nelson had 14 points for the Magic, who fell to 4-4 at home this season. They were 21-12 last season as the host.

Manu Ginobili led five Spurs in double figures with a game-high 20 points. San Antonio led by as many as 25 points during the second half.

"They're a great team. They've been great for years," Nelson said of the Spurs.

The Magic won the battle on the boards, 46-39, but turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 16 Spurs points.

Following tonight's tilt in central Florida, the Magic will open a five-game western road trip against the Lakers, Warriors, Jazz, Kings and Suns.

Brooklyn has already beaten the Magic twice this season after losing 10 in a row in this series. The Nets have still dropped 10 of 12 trips to Orlando.