ORLANDO, Fla. — For the Orlando Magic, the All-Star break couldn’t come at a better time.
Not only had the Magic been going through a rough stretch of play, having lost six of their previous seven games by double digits after Wednesday’s 130-109 home defeat to the Atlanta Hawks, but the nicks and bruises from the season began showing themselves in recent weeks.
Cole Anthony, who scored a team-high 23 points (9 of 16) to go along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists, entered Wednesday as questionable because of a right ankle sprain he’s “been battling and fighting through” for a couple of games, according to coach Jamahl Mosley, before being cleared to play.
Although he hasn’t been listed on recent injury reports, rookie guard Jalen Suggs (19 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds) dealt with right Achilles soreness that affected his playing time during Orlando’s 1-3 western road trip.
The Magic also had multiple players sidelined Wednesday, including Bol Bol (right foot surgery), Markelle Fultz (recovery from left anterior cruciate ligament surgery), R.J. Hampton (medial collateral ligament sprain), Jonathan Isaac (recovery from left ACL surgery) and Moe Wagner (left rib contusion).
“It’s great for these guys to get a little bit of a break,” Mosley said ahead of Wednesday’s matchup. “It’s going to be so important for them to rest their bodies and minds. It’s coming at the right time.”
No team has been impacted by injury-related and health-and-safety-protocol absences more than the Magic.
Orlando had the most games missed by injured players and health protocols (340) as of Feb. 7, which was 86 more than the next closest team (Los Angeles Clippers at 254), according to mangameslost.com, an injury analytics website.
The number has only grown with Fultz, Hampton, Isaac and Wagner missing the five games since then. Michael Carter-Williams and E’Twaun Moore both missed one more game with the Magic because of injuries before being waived ahead of the trade deadline when Orlando traded for Bol, who’s been with the Magic for the last four games as he recovers from a January foot surgery.
Hampton, who’s been sidelined since Jan. 19, provided optimism that he’ll return to the floor soon after the break. He posted highlights of himself on his Instagram story from the Magic’s Jan. 12 game against the Washington Wizards with the caption “back soon.”
“He’s on the court doing a little bit of contact with our coaches, going through some rehab work and continuing to see how he responds to it,” Mosley said of Hampton. “He’s slowly going against coaches right now and some conditioning as well.”
Fultz, who tore his ACL in January 2021, continues to practice with the hopes of returning this season.
“Markelle’s good,” Mosley said of Fultz, who’s in the first season of a 3-year, $50 million ($35 million guaranteed) extension he signed with Orlando in December 2020. “He’s been really good. He’s still getting work in, seeing how he responds to things. Slowly building into contact stuff more, which is good.”
The Magic will also use the break to evaluate their defense that’s taken a step back in February after a strong January. Orlando entered Wednesday with a 115.6 defensive rating (21st in the league) in February after having a 107.8 defensive rating (8th) in January.
“That’s the thing about the break: you use it to find those things as we sit back and reflect on them,” Mosley said. “Those are things we’ll talk about over the break so we can evaluate once we step back in.”
