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By John DentonNov. 24, 2014
CLEVELAND – Affectionately nicknamed ``All Business’’ because of his no-nonsense demeanor, Tobias Harris is as competitive a player as there is in the Orlando Magic locker room and he welcomes challenges.
But even with the ultimate endeavor dead ahead – a showdown against superstar small forward LeBron James – the fiery Harris said that he will have to try and temper his competitiveness when it comes to deciding whether or not to play tonight on a strained right calf muscle.
Harris injured his leg during a warm-up session prior to Friday’s game in Charlotte – a game where he gritted his way through the pain, played 39 minutes and compiled 17 points and 16 rebounds. The lingering pain knocked him out of Saturday’s home loss to Miami. Now, Harris is faced with the prospect of trying to decide how smart it is to play on the gimpy leg tonight when the Magic (6-9) face James and the surprisingly struggling Cleveland Cavaliers (5-7) at 7 p.m.
The Magic held Harris out of their morning practice because they didn’t want him to get the leg warm, cool down in the hours before the game and then try to crank it up again. He’ll see how he feels following a pregame warmup and a decision about his status will be made. He is officially listed as a game-time decision, and Harris is hoping that he can be on the court to face Cleveland all-stars Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and James.
``With (Orlando facing) those guys and the competitor that I am, I want to be out there no matter what’s against you,’’ Harris said prior to Monday’s shoot-around practice. ``But you’ve got to be smart with the injury. It’s a strain. If you go out there and push it too hard, it could get worse. I don’t want that situation. It will be something that I’ll have to feel and listen to my body.’’
Cleveland, owners of a four-game losing streak, has problems of its own with its sagging defense, lack of production off the bench and some shaky chemistry between stars such as James and Irving. In recent years with the Heat, James has hurt the Magic as much with his passing as he scoring with his ability to pick apart defenses that trap him with double teams. In four games against Orlando last season James averaged 19.5 points and 7.3 assists.
Clearly edgy and upset with how his Cavaliers are playing, James hinted on Monday morning that he might look to take over the game more in an attempt to will Cleveland out of its four-game skid.
``I think it all starts with me and my approach to the game and it goes down to everybody else,’’ James said. ``We’ve got a four-game losing streak so I stink. They do (look to him for leadership) and I’m not doing my job, so I have to do a better job and that will help our team.’’
Orlando would undoubtedly benefit from having Harris, who is averaging career highs across the board this season in scoring (18.8 ppg.), rebounding (8.4 rpg.), assists (1.8 apg) and steals (1.21). He’s scored in double figures in all 14 games that he’s played in and he’s topped 20 points six times this season.
Because the Magic are tied with Oklahoma City for the most games played in the NBA so far (15) – and they are the league leaders in road games (tonight is the 10th) – some minor wear and tear has started to show. Harris, who has played the second-most minutes in the NBA this season only to teammate Nikola Vucevic, couldn’t play on Saturday because of the calf strain. Magic guard Evan Fournier missed Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers – another loss – because of a heel bruise.
Harris said his psyche hurt more than his ailing calf muscle on Saturday night when he had to watch Orlando lose a three-point lead in the fourth quarter and fall to the hot-shooting Heat at the Amway Center.
``It was tough watching because you could be out there helping your team. I feel like that was a big game for us coming off the Charlotte game and I wanted to win that game with or without me on the court. But we have another game tonight and hopefully, God-willing, I’ll be able to play. If not, get the rest and get it healthy and be ready for when I can get out there next.’’
After playing Friday and Saturday, the Magic were off from practice on Sunday before flying to Cleveland. However, Harris was at the team facility for a chunk of time on Sunday getting treatment on his upper calf muscle behind his knee. He’s been wearing special magnetized tape on the back of his leg for two days in hopes of speeding up the heeling process.
``I just did treatment and got rest on it. I feel like it’s getting better, but I didn’t do too much on it to really feel it (on the basketball court),’’ Harris said. ``I’ll see how it feels before the game, so I’ll be a game-time decision. But it is getting better.’’