ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Magic head coach Steve Clifford has tested positive for COVID-19, according to league sources.
The Magic were scheduled to practice Saturday and would have benefited from the work, especially considering their recent roster turnover. But the team had to cancel the session due to health and safety protocols after the positive test for Clifford. He has received his first vaccination shot and is asymptomatic and the team is hoping for a false negative, league sources indicated.
Clifford’s status for Sunday’s game at Amway Center against the Pacers remains uncertain.
Sunday’s game tips off at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on Bally Sports Florida.
The Magic (18-41) are scheduled to play the Lakers on Monday to complete the back-to-back set. Orlando will have two back-to-back sets remaining: April 30 and May 1 (at Memphis and versus Memphis); and May 13 and May 14 (at Atlanta and at Philadelphia).
Orlando (18-41) will look to end a four-game losing streak as it takes on Indiana for the third and final time this season. The Magic played the Pacers close in its two previous meetings, losing 120-118 in overtime and 111-106.
The Magic have lost five of the last eight meetings with the Pacers, and are 5-24 in the past 29 contests overall. Orlando has dropped 10 of the last 12 regular-season games at Amway to Indiana, which finds itself in the thick of the play-in race in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers were ninth entering Saturday’s schedule, trailing the eighth-place Hornets by 1 1/2 games and the ninth-place Heat by three games.
In the Pacers’ five-point win April 9 over the Magic, Aaron Holiday led six players in double figures with 20 points, including a 6-for-10 effort from 3-point range.
Terrence Ross led the Magic with a game-high 24 points.
The biggest difference in the game was the 3-point shooting: the Pacers were 11 of 33 while the Magic were just 6 of 24.
In fact, 3-point shooting has been problematic lately for Orlando. In their 15 games since the trade deadline, the Magic are averaging 8.7 3-pointers per game and shooting 30.8% from behind the arc — both the lowest marks in the league over that stretch.
Orlando has, however, increased its free-throw shooting frequency. In its past 15 games, the team is averaging 17.9 free throws (8th in the NBA) and 23.7 attempts (7th).
Still, the Magic continue to be hampered by injuries. Michael Carter-Williams (sprained ankle) and Otto Porter Jr. (foot pain) are still out of the lineup while Ross and James Ennis (calf soreness) remain on the mend with their respective injuries.
Orlando used a franchise-high 29th different starting lineup of the season during Thursday’s 135-100 loss to New Orleans as Wendell Carter Jr. was a late scratch because of a sore ankle. He, Ennis and Ross have been listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com . Email Roy Parry at rparry@orlandosentinel.com . Follow on Twitter @osroyparry
