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Always Special for D.J. Augustin, Elfrid Payton to Return to New Orleans

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton
Jan. 18, 2017

NEW ORLEANS – There’s a distinct Louisiana Cajun feel to the Orlando Magic’s point guard position, even if there was a bit of a plot twist that once caused backup D.J. Augustin to leave his beloved home state.

Starting point guard Elfrid Payton is a native of Gretna, La., and he always looks forward to returning to New Orleans so that he can see family and sample some of his mother’s Cajun cuisine. This year’s favorite delicacy devoured at his parents’ home in suburban New Orleans: A hot sausage sandwich that he’s been craving for weeks.

As for Augustin, returning to New Orleans is always a bit bittersweet because of what he had to go through in 2005. Born in the Crescent City and a two-time state champion at Brother Martin High School in New Orleans, Augustin’s family home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. With no place to live and his high school classmates and teammates spread out all over the area in shelters, Augustin’s family was forced to seek refuge in Houston.

``My home was in the Seventh Ward, in the Gentilly area, and it was really damaged. We weren’t able to come back and live in it and we had to start over in Houston,’’ Augustin said. ``That’s where we decided to stay, start over and start a new life.

``It was a difficult time in my life for my family and I, but we moved past it,’’ he continued. ``It made me who I am today. I had move away from New Orleans – not because I wanted to, but because I had to. But it always feels good to come back.’’

Augustin, who received his diploma from his New Orleans high school even though he finished up at Hightower High in Missouri City, Texas, still has plenty of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews living in New Orleans. He had several of them at Wednesday’s game, and he went around the city to see the progress made since the devastating hurricane more than a decade ago.

``I’m proud of the city, but it still has a long way to go. A lot of people don’t see certain areas that are still abandoned and need work,’’ said Augustin, who has averaged 8.7 points and 3.1 assists in the first 43 games of the season. ``During the season, I try to eat healthy, so I wasn’t able to go and get any beignets or anything like that. But I was raised up on gumbo and stuff like that as a kid in New Orleans.’’

FOURNIER STILL OUT: As expected, Orlando guard Evan Fournier missed his third straight game on Wednesday because of a bruised right heel.

Fournier, the Magic’s leading scorer at 17 points per game, missed five games from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2 because of the injury originally suffered Dec. 22 in a loss in New York following an awkward landing on a reverse layup attempt.

He came back on Jan. 4 and played the next five games, but he was clearly still struggling with the tender heel. He compensated so much for the injury that the soreness has extended from his heel to the entirety of his foot.

Fournier missed losses in Utah and Denver and rested again on Wednesday as the Magic faced the Pelicans. He is hopeful that the twice-a-day treatments on the foot and the rest will help him soon return, but there is no firm timetable for now because he has been instructed to stay off the foot as much as possible.

``With that kind of injury, as long as you aren’t running on it, it’s hard to say even where you are (in the recovery process),’’ Fournier said. ``The only thing I can really do right now is focus on the rehab, stay positive and keep my mind into the game. Then, I have to wait for the right time to test it again.’’

BIYOMBO’S TOUGHNESS: Three Magic players – Aaron Gordon, Augustin and Payton – have appeared in all 44 games this season. A fourth, Bismack Biyombo, would be in that same category if not for a NBA-mandated suspension in the season-opener from a controversial accumulation of flagrant fouls from last spring’s playoffs.

Biyombo, who signed a four-year, free-agent contract with the Magic in July, was good to go on Wednesday night despite taking a hard fall on Monday where he grotesquely bent his left knee up under his body.

The 6-foot-9, 255-pound Biyombo stayed down on the floor for several minutes on Monday in Denver, but once he got to his feet he insisted on staying in the game.

He didn’t practice with the team on Tuesday as he received treatment on his bruised knee and strained hamstring, but he was good to go by Wednesday night.

Coaches often stay that they don’t truly know about the toughness of a player until they coach them. Biyombo, who also gutted his way through a shoulder injury early in the season, has impressed Vogel with his desire to be there for his team every night.

``It does for me,’’ Vogel said when asked if Biyombo’s toughness earns him respect in the locker room. ``Any time a guy gets hit like that and refuses to come out of the game, it shows me a level of toughness. To be fair, sometimes guys get hurt and they shouldn’t play. But if it’s a thing where he’s just playing through pain, (Biyombo) is going to be out there.’’

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