ORLANDO, Fla. _ Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford, who was fired by the Charlotte Hornets after five seasons, will face his former team Friday night.
Clifford downplays any personal emotions and says it is just another game, but deep inside, his players know this is definitely a game he wants to put in the win column.
"Coach has the same approach. Nothing's different," Magic guard-forward Evan Fournier said Thursday, "but I guarantee you he wants to win that game badly, so we're gonna play hard and we're gonna try to get that done for him."
Clifford said Thursday he doesn't look at the game as an opportunity to get back at the franchise that let him go.
"I loved my time there," said Clifford, who had a record of 196-214 in Charlotte, including two playoff appearances.
Back-to-back 36-46 seasons in his final two years proved to be his undoing with the Hornets.
"I have good relationships with a lot of the players and a lot of the people," he said. "The people in the city were really great for me. ... Last year, we should have played better, but for the first four years I was there, I was proud of what we stood for."
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