ORLANDO – Honoring their home city’s history and Central Florida’s long-standing ties to the citrus industry, the Orlando Magic wore their orange-trimmed ``City Edition’’ uniforms in a game for the first time on Friday.
It is believed to be the first time in the 31-year history of the franchise that the Magic wore uniforms that didn’t feature their traditional colors of blue, black and silver. Instead, the Magic donned daringly different uniforms featuring an anthracite grey base layer highlighted by robust orange lettering and stripes.
Across the chest of the jerseys are the bright, orange letters O R L as a nod to Orlando. The city is located in Orange County, the famed Orange Avenue is just a couple of blocks away from the Amway Center and the area was once a big part of Central Florida’s multibillion-dollar citrus industry.
``I really like them. It’s something different, and with those cool, grey tones with the orange, it really pops,’’ Magic forward Aaron Gordon said. ``It’s nice and we’ll see how the fans respond.’’
The Magic complemented the look of the jerseys by also altering the look of their parquet floor at the Amway Center. The borders of the court were outlined in black and trimmed in orange. Across the center circle spanned the letters O R L in orange to match the look on the jerseys.
Evan Fournier, a six-year veteran of the Magic like Gordon, admitted that it might take some time for him to get used to Orlando wearing colors other than the traditional blue, black or silver.
``I was with the (French) National Team (over the summer) when the rumors came out about the Magic wearing orange and I did not believe it until I saw the tweets and stuff,’’ Fournier said. ``I’m looking forward to (wearing the new colors). The first time I saw the jerseys, I can’t lie, it was weird because I’m so used to seeing blue. … But I’m looking forward to it and I’m sure it’s going to look great.’’
GORDON RETURNS: Gordon had a reason other than the orange and anthracite grey and orange uniforms to be excited on Friday. He returned to action and was back in the starting lineup on Friday night after missing 3 ½ games and more than a week with a sprained right ankle.
Magic coach Steve Clifford was delighted that Gordon was able to return because of all that the 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward does for Orlando’s defense.
``He can guard multiple positions and size is a big part of defense in the NBA and when (Gordon) is out there we’re bigger,’’ Clifford said. ``He’s a very good individual defender and a good team defender. He’s not going to be able to play his normal minutes, but he’s a tough guy and a good natural athlete. The first two or three minutes for him might be tough, but he’s a tough guy.’’
Gordon suffered a bone bruise in his right ankle on Nov. 20 against the Toronto Raptors when he landed on the back of teammate Mo Bamba’s foot, causing Gordon’s ankle to violently twist. Already without Michael Carter-Williams (left hip irritation), Orlando also lost all-star center Nikola Vucevic (lateral ankle sprain) against Toronto 3 minutes and 23 seconds after Gordon took a spill onto the court.
Gordon, who came into Wednesday averaging 13.1 points and 6.2 rebounds a game, hoped to return by Wednesday’s game in Cleveland, but he felt lingering soreness and weakness in his ankle following an individual workout a day earlier.
Gordon not only went through the Magic’s shootaround on Friday morning, but he stayed after to get up extra shots. Despite being out eight straight days, Gordon felt his stamina level would be good enough for him to hold his own on Friday against the Raptors.
``We’ve been doing a great job off the court keeping my wind up and keeping my cardio up while trying to offload my ankle, but we’ll see how that goes,’’ Gordon said prior to tipoff. ``I really think it’s the wind because fatigue makes it harder to go through the actions, so when I get my second wind back, I’ll be good.’’
ISAAC VS. SIAKAM: Magic forward Jonathan Isaac has made no secret about the fact that he’s modeled much of his game after that of Toronto’s Pascal Siakam, the NBA’s reigning Most Improved Player award winner.
Not only do they have similar builds – Isaac is listed at 6-10 and 230 pounds, while Siakam is 6-9 and 230 pounds – but their career tracks are headed the same direction.
Siakam, 25, has gone from being a bit player early in his career to a driving force on the Raptors. After averaging 4.2 and 7.3 points per game in his first two NBA seasons, he boosted that number to 16.9 last season and a whopping 26 points a night this season – good for ninth in the NBA. Siakam’s rebounding has also soared, but his biggest area of improvement has been with his 3-point accuracy. In four seasons, he’s gone from being a 14.3 percent 3-point shooter as a rookie to 39 percent this season.
Isaac, 22, has seen his scoring average climb from 5.4 points per game as a rookie to 9.6 points last season to 13.3 points per game this season. On the glass, Isaac has gone from 3.7 boards a game, to 5.5 last season and 7.1 rebounds a night this season. Like Siakam, Isaac has dramatically improved his outside shooting by making 86 3-pointers last season – 70 more than he did as a rookie. This season, he’s shooting a respectable 35.6 percent from beyond the arc.
``You can see Jonathan’s confidence is growing,’’ Clifford said. ``This is by the numbers, but last year Jonathan was an elite team defender and now this year his individual defense has gotten a lot better because his technique has gotten better, but also because his strength has gotten so much better. These are the challenges (against Siakam) that are good for him. He did a good job the other night on (Detroit’s) Blake Griffin and hopefully he can have a good game (against the Raptors).’’
Watching those two players do battle is a matchup that Toronto coach Nick Nurse figures will be one of the best in the NBA for years to come.
``I don’t know for how long, but it’s certainly going to be one that’s around for a while,’’ Nurse said. ``It seems like every time I watch game film of (the Magic), (Isaac and Siakam) look more and more similar to each other. I see Isaac bringing the ball (up), running some of the similar actions and showing a little more patience in the paint – things that Siakam does. They’re very similar guys and it’s a good matchup to watch, for sure.’’
UP NEXT: Orlando will be back on the practice floor on Saturday to prepare for Sunday’s 6 p.m. home game against the injury-ravaged Golden State Warriors. Three-time champs and in the NBA Finals each of the past five seasons, Golden State went into Friday’s game in Miami having dropped eight of 10 games and in possession of the NBA’s worst record at 4-15.
Golden State lost Kevin Durant in free agency in July and hasn’t had Klay Thomson all season after he tore the ACL in his left knee during the NBA Finals in June. Two-time MVP Stephen Curry played just four games before breaking a bone in his left hand on Oct. 30, while Draymond Green (11 games), D’Angelo Russell (10 games) and Kevon Looney (one game) have been in and out of the lineup because of more injuries.
The Magic split the two-game series with the Warriors last season, winning in Orlando and dropping a heartbreaker in Northern California in their final game ever played in Oakland.
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