ORLANDO – Quite possibly, no member of the Orlando Magic was more excited about playing the Washington Wizards on Sunday night than Markelle Fultz, a point guard who grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, occasionally rooted for D.C.’s NBA team as a child and later grew close to some of the squad’s current stars.
Fultz, 21, was born in Upper Marlboro, Md., and he later attended high school at the famed DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md. His dreams of someday playing in the NBA started when he would watch Wizards’ games on TV or attend them to see the level that he needed to get to with his own play.
``I didn’t go a lot, but I did attend a few because my neighbor worked at the Verizon Center and they would hook me up with some tickets every once in a while,’’ recalled Fultz, who came into Sunday’s game averaging 9.8 points, 3.2 assists and 1.33 steals in slightly more than 23 minutes a game. ``But I (always) watched the Wizards on TV and supporting them. The Wizards were one of the teams that I supported a lot. I didn’t really root for any other teams. I stayed loyal to the hometown team.’’
Being a McDonald’s All-American and one of the nation’s top high school players afforded Fultz several opportunities to talk to Washington standout guards John Wall and Bradley Beal. Their advice proved to be highly beneficial to Fultz, who became the top overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft.
``Me and John Wall talked multiple times, with him being a great point guard there, and me being one of the top players coming out of the area, we talked a lot,’’ Fultz remembered. ``With Bradley Beal, I got a chance to meet him and work out together when I was with (professional skills trainer) Drew Hanlen. I’ve got a lot of respect for those guys because they are great guys. Isaiah Thomas went to (the University of) Washington (like Fultz) and he was somebody I looked up to growing up. The list goes on and on and I have a lot of respect for them.’’
ISAAC OUT AGAIN: Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, who sprained his right ankle at a team event on Thursday, hoped to return to action on Sunday after missing Friday’s defeat of the San Antonio Spurs. However, the decision was made to withhold the 22-year-old Isaac on Sunday after he had some lingering soreness in his sprained ankle. Not playing Isaac also allows him to have two more days to fully recover prior to playing again.
``He just still has some soreness,’’ said Magic coach Steve Clifford, who hopes that Isaac will be ready to play again by Wednesday’s game in Toronto.
Al-Farouq Aminu, who had 13 points and 13 rebounds on Friday, started in place of Isaac once again. Aminu grabbed five of his 13 boards on the offensive glass and impressed Clifford with his toughness and fight.
``That’s what he brings to the team – he’s a tough guy and a very good natural competitor,’’ Clifford said of Aminu, who stepped into the starting lineup just two days after being out of the rotation because of matchups. ``What he showed the other night is just what he’s going to bring – a defensive mentality and a rebounding mentality. He’s a smart player.’’
D-LEAGUE SUCCESS: Orlando used the close proximity of its G League team, the Lakeland Magic, to its advantage again on Saturday night by sending forwards Amile Jefferson and Melvin Frazier Jr. to nearby Polk County for some much-needed game action.
Jefferson had 22 points, 11 rebounds and two assists, while Frazier compiled 13 points in Lakeland’s 125-99 defeat of College Park (Ga.) on Saturday. The two players were recalled from the G League on Sunday and available for Orlando’s game against Washington later that night.
Point guard Josh Magette and forward B.J. Johnson, players on two-way contracts with Orlando and Lakeland, also played well in Saturday’s G League win. Magette not only drilled seven of 11 3-pointers, but he also scored 25 points and handed out 12 assists. As for Johnson, he chipped in 16 points for Lakeland (3-1).
Players under two-way contracts are allowed to spend a maximum of 45 days at the NBA level. The periods of time before and after the G League starting and ending do not count toward that service-time allowance.
Magette, a 6-foot-1, 160-pound guard out of Alabama-Huntsville, spent training camp and the first two weeks of the regular season with Orlando and appeared in one NBA game (four points, one rebounds and one assist in five minutes). He’s averaged 19.5 points and a league-best 10.5 assists through four G League games while also making 13 of 26 3-point shots.
UP NEXT: Their longest home stand of the season completed, the Magic now hit the road for a nine-night, four-game trip. Orlando will get a much-needed day off on Monday before practicing on Tuesday prior to departing for Toronto. On their upcoming trip, the Magic will face the Raptors (Wednesday), Indiana Pacers (Saturday), Detroit Pistons (Nov. 25) and Cleveland Cavaliers (Nov. 27). Orlando won’t be back at the Amway Center again until Nov. 29 when they face the Raptors for a third time this season.
Orlando lost in Toronto, 104-95, on Oct. 28 in a game when since-injured point guard Kyle Lowry scored 26 points. Indiana beat the Magic at the Amway Center on Nov. 10 behind a dominant second-half performance. Orlando opened the season with a 94-85 defeat of the Cavaliers at the Amway Center.
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