NBA London 2016: We have to be ready to play, says Orlando Magic's Nikola Vucevic ahead of 'special' trip

Montenegrin looking forward to his first trip to the capital

(Getty Images)

Orlando Magic star Nikola Vucevic says the team's trip to London is all about business, not pleasure, when they land in a couple of weeks - no matter how much he wants to see the capital's sights.

The Montenegrin centre, who leads the team in points and rebounds, is expecting a tough task inside The O2 Arena on 14 January, when the Magic face Eastern Conference rivals the Toronto Raptors.

The Magic have been resurgent under new head coach Scott Skiles this season; last season they won just 25 of their 82 games, a record better than only four other teams, but this season they already have a record of 18 wins, 13 losses, and are well in the play-off race.

While Vucevic, 25 and in his fourth season in Florida, is expecting a "special" night, he says his club can't afford to treat the game as a "tourist trip".


 The Orlando Magic meet the Toronto Raptors in London
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"We have to make sure we treat it as a business trip and not as a tourist trip when we go to London," he told a global press conference. "Toronto are in our conference, they’re one of the best teams and are fighting for the top spots in the East. We’re trying to prove ourselves and make the play-offs this year having had a couple of tough seasons, so it’s going to be an important trip for us.

"We’ve got a tough schedule before we head there so we’re going to have to make sure that we’re ready to play when we get there."

The Raptors have won just a game more but sit three spots ahead of them in a tightly contested play-off race, the first time in years where the East has been comparable, and even superior, to the West.

The Magic were involved in the first NBA games ever to be held in London, when they played a pair of pre-season matches against the Atlanta Hawks in October 1993. They have not been back to the UK since, and this will be their first regular season game outside of the US, but Vucevic has experience of playing abroad.

The team played in Rio De Janiero, Brazil, in a pre-season match against Flamengo in October, a game where Vucevic top scored with 18 points.

"I’ve never been to London or England so it will be first time over there, " he added, when asked about what atmosphere he expected. "Obviously I know that English people are very passionate about football, when you watch a game you can see there’s a lot of passion and they’re great fans.


 The Magic are much improved this season
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"I don’t know how it is with basketball but obviously they’ve done games in the past so the fact that the NBA keeps going back there, I’m sure they’ve had a very good experience so I’m looking forward to it. I think it will be a great experience for us, I think the fans will accept us there and it will be great to play in a different country.

"We played in Brazil in October and that was a great experience to go out and play in front of a crowd that hasn’t ever had the chance to watch a NBA game so I’m looking forward to it and it should be a fun experience for all of us."

Vucevic also sees the game and trip as a great way for this young Magic team to grow.

"It will be special playing this game because its being played in a different country, there’s going to be a lot of talk about it, so that has a different feel to it and you’re playing on a neutral court.

"I think it will be great for our team chemistry to spend some time off the court with each other. I think when we went to Brazil earlier this year it really helped [us] to come closer and learn a lot about each other and I think the same will happen for us in London, where we’ll have to spend a lot of time together off the court in a different country, where we don’t really know anybody. I think that will help a lot and I think in terms of the timing, with mid-season approaching, you have to step it up and towards the end of the season, every game really matters.

"So I think it will be a great time for us to get closer and have a better team spirit. I think the team spirit has been really good so far but I think the trip could really help us get even closer as we finish the season."

With seven games to play between now and the trip to London, Vucevic admits that the game isn't quite on the minds of the players just yet, but added: "Earlier in the year we talked about how it would be fun for us to go there, most of us have never been, so everybody is looking forward to going and we’ll be able to bring some of our family and friends there which will be great."

Vucevic, a Montenegrin international, had a nomadic upbringing as his parents were both professional basketball players in Europe. He was born in Switzerland but raised in Belgium before moving to California for the final year of high school and then college.

As a 15-year-old he was also involved in the Bioce derailment, the worst train crash in Montenegrin history. Vucevic only suffered minor cuts and bruises but 47 people were killed and 200 more injured after the breaks failed.

It's obviously something he "doesn't like to think about too much".


 Vucevic leads Orlando in points and rebounds this season
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On his opponents in London, the Raptors, Vucevic will go up against a team they have already beaten this season - although he didn't play - but one they have struggled against in recent seasons.

"The Raptors are a team we’ve struggled against the last few years, but this year was a very close game that we were able to win at the end. But they are a very good team. They are one of the best teams in our conference and one of the best teams in the NBA.

"They have some very good players, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Jonas Valanciunas so they are a good team, they have a lot of good guys who come off the bench and provide a boost, so it will be a tough match-up for us against them. Every time we play them it’s a pretty close game and a pretty tough game so it will be a very good game for us to play against them in London as well."

Even though Vucevic may be avoiding the tourist traps, there is one destination he will be desperate to visit: Stamford Bridge. The Montenegrin is a huge fan of Chelsea.

"I would like to watch a game when I go, hopefully, I think they do play while we’re there, so hopefully I’ll have time go watch a game or I can at least see a practice or meet up with the players," he adds.

"One of my favourite players, Eden Hazard, is there. He’s great. When I was little I just picked them. In Europe football is a massive sport so you have to pick a team in every country. Sadly this season is not so great, I know Chelsea aren't where all the fans want them to be but I’m sure they’ll make progress by the end of the season and hopefully in the Champions League they can do some more damage."

The Orlando Magic host the Toronto Raptors at The O2 in London on 14 January as part of NBA Global Games London 2016. The game is live on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Showcase or via NBA LEAGUE PASS