ORLANDO, Fla. — After not playing basketball for nearly 2 1/2 years, Jonathan Isaac understands he must remain patient with himself.
It’s part of the reason why he hasn’t been too critical of himself when evaluating his play after returning to the floor in the Jan. 23 win over the Boston Celtics.
“I’m feeling better and better,” Isaac told the Orlando Sentinel. “I’m starting to feel more like myself. It has slowed down for sure since I started, but I still got some ways to go in terms of overall [comfort]. The more I play, the more comfortable I’ll get.”
Isaac has played 108 minutes in 10 games — 10.8 minutes per game — since making his return.
He’s generally been held to a playing-time restriction of 8-14 minutes per game, with the most he’s played being the 14:15 of action he was on the court during the Saturday home loss to the Miami Heat.
It hasn’t been nearly enough time to evaluate the player Isaac is or could be for the Magic, especially after such a lengthy period of time away from the floor.
But Isaac already has shown flashes of the player he was before his left-knee injury and what he can provide.
“Things are definitely starting to be more fluid,” Isaac said. “But I still got some ways to go. This is just me scratching the surface.”
Isaac developed into a high-level defender before tearing his ACL on Aug. 2, 2020, and has displayed a part of the skill set that made him special on that end.
He’s active with his hands and takes advantage of his length to disrupt passing lanes. His 5.7 deflections per 36 minutes are the second most among all players who played at least 100 minutes.
Isaac has shown great defensive anticipation on and off the ball, leading to 1.2 steals per game despite his limited minutes.
He stops plays from happening by picking the offensive players’ pocket (on-ball steal) or being disruptive as a help defender.
“Just getting back used to things,” Isaac said. “Where you’re supposed to be, reads, expectations on when things are supposed to happen. Instincts. It’s still not where I’d like it to be, but it’s coming along.”
Offensively, Isaac’s shown more polish offensively compared to before the injury.
He’s leaned on his turnaround jumper in the halfcourt.
Isaac has been the team’s top offensive rebounder since returning, giving him put-back opportunities.
There have been times when he’s tried forcing the issue as a scorer in his limited minutes, but those moments haven’t been as frequent over the last few games.
“When you get four-minute stints or six-minute stints, it’s like, ‘I want to hoop,’ ” Isaac said. “The more I’m a part of the game, get more minutes and get more comfortable out there, then I won’t be as stressed out there.”
Isaac’s playing time restriction has increased by a few minutes since the initial 8-10-minutes restriction he was on.
Although he wasn’t completely sure, he imagined the team will discuss his playing-time restriction during the All-Star break and evaluate his progress.
“I’m sure it will be,” Isaac said. “I’m sure the team will take some time with the training staff and figure out what the back half of the season looks like and what that means for me in terms of minutes.”
