NEW ORLEANS – Orlando Magic all-star center Nikola Vucevic, out the past 11 games with a sprained right ankle, made his much-anticipated return on Sunday afternoon in New Orleans against the Pelicans.
Vucevic suffered a lateral sprain in his right ankle back on Nov. 20 when he landed awkwardly after jumping and trying to block a Norman Powell shot in Toronto. During their 5-6 run in the 11 games without Vucevic, the Magic briefly strung together a four-game winning streak, but they dropped the last three before the 7-footer’s return on Sunday.
Vucevic, Orlando’s second-leading scorer (17.1 ppg.) and its leading rebounder (11.6 rpg.), started Sunday’s game in New Orleans, but the team had every intention of bringing him along slowly so that he could way his way back into game shape. Based on how Vucevic’s ankle reacts, the could be held out of one of the games in Orlando’s upcoming back-to-back set of games in Utah (Tuesday) and Denver (Wednesday).
``(High Performance Director) David (Tenney) will watch him and (Head Athletic Trainer) Ernest (Eugene) will watch him and he won’t play his regular minutes, but he is going to play a significant number (of minutes), too,’’ Magic head coach Steve Clifford said. ``He missed 11 games, so we’re going to have to see where he’s at with rhythm. This is the other part where the scheduling with the way we do things (with practices) makes it different. The not playing back-to-backs (for injured players) is a great move, but it does change the way we practice. Four or five years ago, we would have scrimmaged a lot and he could get ready, but now it’s nearly impossible to do that.’’
EARLY START TIME: Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. CT tipoff was coordinated as part of the NBA’s ``European Primetime Game’’ schedule.
The earlier start time allowed the game to be televised in the prime-time window in Europe. Outside of the United States and Canada, the NBA also aired the game in 109 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Magic standouts Evan Fournier (France) and Vucevic (Montenegro) hail from Europe. Al-Farouq Aminu and Mo Bamba were both born in the United States, but they have family ties in Nigeria and Ivory Coast.
``That’s cool,’’ Fournier said when informed that the earlier start time was to make the viewing schedule easier for NBA fans in Europe. ``My (family and friends) watch all the time. They usually text me after every game.’’
D.J.’S BIG NIGHT: To fully understand the respect that veteran point guard D.J. Augustin commands from all of the people in his life, all you had to do was look in the stands on Saturday night at Conlin Gymnasium on the campus of Brother Martin High School.
Augustin, a native of New Orleans, had his No. 14 jersey retired by Brother Martin on Saturday. Not only did the student section at Brother Martin High give Augustin a standing ovation when he walked into the arena, but all of Augustin’s Magic teammates and coaches attended the ceremony. Also, Magic players and coaches wore white, red and gold Brother Martin T-shirts with the point guard’s familiar No. 14 on the back to show their support.
``He’s the best. He’s team-first, he’s professional and he’s as hard a worker as we have,’’ Clifford said. ``He has the total respect of everybody.’’
Augustin, a 12-year NBA veteran in his fourth season with the Magic, was accompanied at Saturday’s ceremony by his parents, Darryl Sr. and Vanessa, his sisters Mia and Greer, his wife, Brandy, and their three children – 7-year-old daughter Kailey, 5-year-old son Trey and 3-year-old son Chase.
``Like I said when I spoke (to the crowd), family is everything to me,’’ said Augustin, who was presented a framed jersey and had another one hung on the wall near the student section. ``Everywhere I’ve been, it’s been because of family. Whether it was college at (the University of Texas), high school here at Brother Martin and now with the Magic, I’ve been there four years and it feels like home and everybody is family to me. To have those guys here to support me, it felt really good.’’
UP NEXT: Sunday’s game in New Orleans was the start of a four-game, seven-day road trip for the Magic. The team will be off on Monday prior to starting a difficult two-night stretch in Utah and Denver on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Magic split two games with the Jazz last season. They beat the Jazz when they were the ``home’’ team in Mexico City and struggled mightily in the fourth quarter of a loss in Salt Lake City.
After playing in Denver on Wednesday, the Magic wrap up their first West Coast trip in Portland on Friday.
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