By John Denton January 30, 2013
But the star-crossed season will also be remembered for the two Davis injuries that knocked him out of the lineup and staggered the Magic.
Still trying to fully recover from a severely sprained left shoulder injury suffered on December 19, Davis fractured his left foot early in Wednesday’s game and could be lost for the remainder of the season.
Davis came into Wednesday’s game averaging career highs in points (15.5 ppg.) and rebounds (7.5 rpg.). His fiery demeanor and stellar play early in the season made the Magic one of the NBA’s feel-good stories as the squad started 12-13 with a host of big wins.
But when Davis hit the floor late in the game on Dec. 19, the Magic’s fortunes went down with him. Orlando lost 10 games in a row while Davis was out with the shoulder injury. He returned to play nine games before injuring his foot on Wednesday in the 113-97 loss to the New York Knicks.
Davis was sent back to Orlando after Wednesday’s game. His teammates, who found out midway through Wednesday’s game that Davis was lost to a fractured foot, spoke of the disappointment of losing one of their key players.
``I feel bad for him, but you just can’t control some of these injuries,’’ said Magic veteran point guard Jameer Nelson, a fellow co-captain. ``I just wished him the best. I gave him a hug, but there’s really nothing you can say to a man like that. I told him I’m here for him and I just hope everything goes well for him.’’
The Magic started the second half on Wednesday with converted small forward Hedo Turkoglu at power forward. Rookies Andrew Nicholson and Kyle O’Quinn also spent time at power forward on Wednesday.
Orlando is also hoping that veteran Al Harrington will return in the coming days.
Harrington, acquired in the four-team, 12-player deal in August centered around Dwight Howard, has yet to play this season after needing three procedures to clean out a staph infection in his knee. Harrington, a 14-year NBA veteran, got in workouts Wednesday morning and before Wednesday night’s game and appears close to returning. He’ll practice with the team on Thursday in Boston.
``It’s not good,’’ Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said of the severity of Davis’ injury. ``But it’s a good thing that we have a full roster and we’ll use those minutes for others to help our team.’’
Davis set the tone for his breakout season by scoring 29 points in the season-opening victory against Denver. He scored at least 20 points eight times and led the Magic in scoring 11 times and in rebounds 10 times.
Even more importantly, Davis showed great maturity and was voted a team captain prior to the start of the season. The new role made him accountable for his actions and taught him to somewhat reign in his previously fiery persona.
Vaughn said the multiple injuries have come at a time when Davis was finally evolving into a player who could be depended on for big things.
``It’s really unfortunate because I know that he looked forward to this year,’’ Vaughn said. ``This was new territory for him (being a captain and a starter). So it’s really unfortunate for him to be hurt this year for multiple times.’’
Vaughn said he was unsure how Davis’ foot injury occurred on Wednesday night, but as soon as he saw the 290-pounder hobbling around he knew it was likely serious.
``It happened real quickly. It was in transition, opposite side of our bucket, and I looked up and I saw him limping. I asked him if he was OK and he took a trip down and that’s how fast it happened,’’ Vaughn said. ``We did our halftime and our trainer said he wouldn’t be joining us in the second half. Then, I got the news (of the fractured foot) after the game.’'
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