Payton to face old team when Suns visit Magic

Elfrid Payton endured two nine-game losing streaks with the Orlando Magic. Then he was traded to the Phoenix Suns and has played through two double-digit losing streaks.

Payton faces his former team Saturday night when Phoenix visits the Magic in a matchup of struggling teams.

Orlando traded Payton at the Feb. 8 trade deadline after 3 1/2 seasons. He made his debut for Phoenix on Feb. 10 when it dropped the fifth game in a 10-game losing streak.

The Suns (19-54) halted the first 10-game streak by beating Memphis on Feb. 28 but are on a second 10-game losing streak, where the average margin of defeat is 18.3 points.

Payton is averaging 12.4 points on 44 percent shooting in 17 games since the trade while shooting 22.7 percent from 3-point range. He also is averaging 6.3 assists and 3.1 turnovers.

Before getting dealt, Payton averaged similar numbers of 13 points, 6.3 assists and 2.6 turnovers on 52 percent shooting (37.3 percent from 3-point range).

Payton is a restricted free agent this summer but has slumped of late after finishing with four points in 22 minutes in a 120-95 loss at Cleveland on Friday.

"It can be a stressful time, but I'm in a good place," Payton told the Arizona Republic earlier this week. "I'm going to work on everything and whatever happens for me, happens for me."

Despite his recent struggles, Payton's former teammates are ready for his return.

"It will probably be a little weird to go against him for the first time, but I'm sure he will come in fired up and ready to play," Orlando center Nikola Vucevic told reporters Friday. "He played here for a few years and I'm sure he'll try to come in and put up a big game. So, we'll have to be ready for that."

Neither team appeared ready in their last game. Phoenix dropped to 5-31 in its last 36 games by getting outscored 39-18 in the second quarter of Friday's loss at Cleveland.

The Suns played a third straight game without Devin Booker due to a hand injury. He tested his hand in warmups before sitting out.

"Can't catch the ball, can't throw a pass," Phoenix coach Jay Triano told reporters. "Hopefully he'll be able to play tomorrow night. We've got a lot of guys who are tired."

While the Suns are hoping Booker can return, T.J. Warren is expected to miss a third straight game with a sprained knee.

Orlando (21-51) is 1-8 in its last nine games since getting consecutive home wins over Detroit and Memphis on March 2-3. Orlando's offense has faltered during this slide by averaging 93.9 points on 41.7 percent shooting from the field.

The latest setback was an ugly 118-98 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. Two days before facing one of the league's quickest teams in terms of pace, the Magic allowed 32 fast-break points.

"We know that (Payton) is going to be extra aggressive against us and we've got to make sure that we're on alert to it," Orlando coach Frank Vogel told reporters. "Hopefully Philly prepared us for improving our transition defense. We were awful (Thursday) night, getting back on defense."

Besides transition defense, Aaron Gordon and Vucevic struggled immensely on offense. The duo combined for 17 points on 7-of-26 shooting.

The Magic played Thursday's game without Johnathan Simmons (right wrist contusion) and rookie Jonathan Isaac (left foot sprain). Both players could sit Saturday along with Evan Fournier, who will miss his eighth straight game with a sprained MCL in his left knee.

Orlando took the first meeting by shooting 52.4 percent in a 128-112 win at Phoenix on Nov. 10 when Gordon led six players in double figures with 22 points. The Magic were 8-4 after holding Booker to nine points but are 13-47 since.