TORONTO – ScotiaBank Arena, the site of the Orlando Magic’s most thrilling victory in years during last spring’s playoffs, is also becoming something of a house of horrors for the franchise when it ventures north of the U.S. border these days.
The Magic and their modest three-game winning streak hit some seriously tough luck on Wednesday when they not only lost again to the Toronto Raptors, but they also lost all-star center Nikola Vucevic and standout forward Aaron Gordon to what could be significant ankle injuries.
As if it wasn’t frustrating enough to squander a strong start and lose 113-97 to the defending champion Raptors, the Magic have plenty of concern about the health of their two starters after both went down injured and didn’t return. Within a 3-minute, 23-second stretch of an already dismal second quarter, Gordon stayed down on the floor after turning his ankle on a rebound and Vucevic couldn’t get to his feet after his right ankle buckled following a block attempt. Gordon walked off the floor and checked out on his own power, while the 7-foot Vucevic had to be helped to the locker room by two Magic staffers.
``Hopefully it’s not too long for Aaron (to miss), but Vooch’s seems to be a pretty big sprained ankle, but we’ve got to find ways to score the ball,’’ said Magic guard Evan Fournier, who had 21 points and three 3-pointers in Wednesday’s loss. ``We’ve got to adapt the way that we play, become really good defensively and have a next-man-up mentality. This is no time to dwell on anything and we’ve got to have that fighting mentality. … (Vucevic and Gordon) are hurt, but not dead and we still have lots of games left, so we’ve got to keep fighting.’’
While Gordon left ScotiaBank Arena with his ankle heavily taped up late Wednesday, Vucevic needed a walking boot and crutches to get to the team’s bus. He said x-rays on his ankle were negative for broken bones, but an MRI scheduled for Thursday should shed more light on the severity of the ankle sprain.
``It was really painful when it happened,’’ Vucevic said after the game. ``I’m not sure if I stepped on (Norman Powell’s) foot or if my leg just got tangled up with his leg, but it felt like my ankle went, stopped and then went all the way. That’s when I really felt it and it was really painful. It was hard for me to put any pressure on it. I’m supposed to get an MRI (on Thursday) and I’ll know more after that.’’
Orlando (6-8) got outscored 29-19 in Wednesday’s game-turning second quarter and it had little answers defensively the rest of the night against Toronto, who won handily despite being without starters Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry. Fred VanVleet (24 points and seven assists) and rookie Terence Davis (19 points and seven rebounds) lifted the Raptors (10-4) to their second defeat of the Magic this season in Toronto.
Toronto, of course, was the sight of Magic point guard D.J. Augustin’s game-winning 3-pointer in Game 1 of the playoffs last spring. However, Orlando went on to lose the next four games of the series – two of them in Toronto by lopsided scores.
Earlier this season, the Magic also fell 104-95 in Toronto in a game where Vucevic missed 12 of 13 shots. Somehow, Wednesday seemed even more dismal for the Magic considering how the injuries piled on top of the insult of another ugly loss.
``We hate to see the injuries, but it happens and it’s going to happen again,’’ Fournier said. ``Like I said, we just have to adjust, adapt and keep playing.’’
On Wednesday, Terrence Ross (14 points and three 3-pointers), Jonathan Isaac (16 points, a career-best-tying 13 rebounds and three blocked shots) and Vucevic’s replacement, Khem Birch (12 points and four rebounds), were among the few bright spots for the Magic. Isaac, who came into the night second in the NBA in blocked shots per game, returned after missing the previous two games with a sprained right ankle. It was his second strong game of the season in Toronto after scoring a career-best 24 points and making five of eight 3-point shots back on Oct. 28. On Wednesday, he missed all four of his 3-point attempts.
Point guard Markelle Fultz, who had a career-best 19 points in the Magic’s defeat of Washington on Sunday, added 12 points and four assists.
``I liked the way we played in the second half, and I liked the way that we started the game, but when we broke the (starting) lineup, it was awful,’’ Magic head coach Steve Clifford said referring to the one-sided second quarter. ``(Vucevic and Gordon) go down, but again, for one game you can beat anybody. In the third quarter we put ourselves in position, but at the end of the third hurt us and it got away from us with 7 ½ (minutes) left. It was misleading because of the final score, but I thought in the second half we played well.’’
Orlando shot a seemingly promising 54.5 percent from the floor in the first quarter, but it finished at 38.5 percent from the floor for the game. Toronto, meanwhile, shot 52.3 percent with nine 3-pointers against an Orlando defense that struggled to prevent straight-line drives to the rim. Rising star forward Pascal Siakam finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and four assists on a night when he wasn’t asked to carry the Raptors’ offense.
Toronto had a staggering 68-40 advantage in points in the paint in the game.
The Magic came into Wednesday riding high off a feel-good 4-1 homestand that it used to regain its offensive rhythm and confidence. Last in the league in nearly major offensive category after the first eight games of the season, the Magic shot 45.7 percent from the floor, connected on 36.2 percent of their 3-pointers and averaged 113.6 points during the five games at the Amway Center – four of which were wins over Memphis, Philadelphia, San Antonio and Washington.
However, that success didn’t translate to the road – a recurring theme so far this season. Orlando also came into Wednesday tied with Phoenix for having played the fewest road games in the NBA, and it was also one of just two NBA teams (along with Oklahoma City) that had yet to win on the road this season.
Wednesday’s game was the start of a four-game, nine-night road trip that will also see the Magic play games in Indiana (Saturday), Detroit (Nov. 25) and Cleveland (Nov. 27). The Magic will now have to try and make do on the trip possibly minus their best offensive player (Vucevic) and their best defender (Gordon).
``We have a lot of continuity here, so it’s not like a lot of guys are new or anything,’’ said Birch, the likely starter at center going forward. ``Well, the second unit is kind of new. With the starters going down and if those guys are still out, I just feel like it might take a game or two to get the chemistry back.’’
Gordon was the first to fall in the forgettable second quarter. He soared high into the air for a rebound with 8:52 to play, but feels his right foot landed on the leg of Mo Bamba and caused the sprain. Gordon stayed down on the floor before slowly walking off the court on his own power when a substitute was at the scorer’s table. In 12 minutes before leaving, Gordon contributed two points, two rebounds and one field goal that came on a thunderous dunk off a cut.
``This one felt a little bit worse. Usually I can roll it over and just kind of lace it up tighter and go, but this time I jumped all the way up and came all the way down on it,’’ said Gordon, who noted that he’s already played through a couple of mild ankle sprains this season. ``It hurts not being able to play or help my team win. But injuries are a part of the game, I’ll take my time and get back right.’’
Vucevic went down hard with 5:29 left in the second period when he landed awkwardly on a block attempt and his right ankle appeared to buckle underneath him. Upon injuring his ankle, Vucevic was unable to put any weight on his foot and he needed assistance from two Magic staffers to get back to the locker room.
Vucevic got off to a torrid start on Wednesday by handing out five assists and drilling a 3-pointer on the Magic’s first six field goals. However, he cooled off following a stretch on the bench and missed his next seven shots. He finished with three points, six rebounds and five assists in 11 minutes.
Down 10 at intermission and forced to play short-handed, Orlando opened the third quarter with Birch and Al-Farouq Aminu in the starting lineup. The results weren’t pretty as Orlando mustered just 17 points in the third period and stared up at a 79-68 deficit heading into the fourth period.
Just when the Magic thought things couldn’t get any worse, they inexplicably did as they limped off to the locker room at the half. Augustin drilled a 3-pointer as the halftime horn sounded, but replays showed that it came after time expired. That sequence events, combined with a dismal second quarter, put the Magic down 61-51 at intermission.
That came, of course, after the Magic learned that Vucevic and Gordon wouldn’t return in the second half because of sprained right ankles.
Now, the staggered franchise – which is also without Michael Carter-Williams (hip irritation) – will play the waiting game and hope for the best on Thursday when Gordon will be reevaluated and Vucevic will head for the MRI on his badly swollen right ankle.
``I’ve been saying it all year that we’ve got really talented people in this locker room and now it’s about the next-man-up and people have got to be ready to step up and make plays,’’ said Gordon, whose ankle x-rays were also negative for any fractures on Wednesday night. ``Collectively, we’ll be able to fill that void and we’ll be able to do it.’’
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