Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton, Serge Ibaka return for Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic became whole for the first time this season. Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton and Serge Ibaka all returned to practice.

The Orlando Magic got a big piece to their roster back Saturday, as the team returned to practice following a one-day hiatus for Hurricane Matthew. In fact, the Magic got three big pieces back.

Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton and Serge Ibaka all returned to practice Saturday, giving the Magic the first look at their starting lineup since training camp began. Even though things were still a bit rusty, there was certainly a noticeable uptick to practice with those players back in the fold.

“We looked like a different team,” Frank Vogel said. “We felt like a different team. A lot of encouraging signs seeing all those guys out there together.”

It was certainly a hard practice for the Magic on the heels of a disappointing effort against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. The team came back refreshed, but having to get its legs back following a day off Thursday and then an emergency day off Friday for Hurricane Matthew.

For all three, there was certainly some catching up to do and rust to knock off. All three players have missed the majority of camp.

Elfrid Payton strained his left hip flexor toward the end of the Magic’s first practice and has been out since. Serge Ibaka has missed the last week of practice with knee soreness. The Magic had him take a precautionary MRI that revealed no structural damage.

Aaron Gordon missed all of training camp with a sprained ankle suffered in the weeks leading up to training camp. This was his first action in full contact this camp.

“It feels good,” said Gordon, clearly sweating and panting following Saturday’s practice. “It’s exhausting. I’ve been trying to keep my conditioning up. But there is no conditioning like basketball conditioning. You can run on the treadmill all you want, you can bike, you can swim, you can do whatever you want. But when you get on the court and you start cutting and be dynamic and have other pressures and other forces pushing against you, you just lose your wind. I just have to get my wind back, get my legs back and get into rhythm.”

Gordon said Vogel eased him into things at the beginning of practice and then began throwing a lot at him toward the end of practice. That goes in addition to Gordon learning his new teammates as he plays with them for the first time.

Gordon, like his teammates, are still learning timing with each other. Plus, Gordon is learning the nuances and intricacies of a new position as he moves to the perimeter.

It is going to take time — as Vogel constantly reminds everyone — for this team to come together.

The first two preseason games though were not a strong look into the Magic on either end. Vogel admitted following Wednesday’s game they ran a starting lineup with Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo they would not play against the Cavaliers during the regular season.

The Magic were clearly not at full strength. And there were still finer points to the defense and the offense to get down. It was hard to get a sense of who this team could be even in its best moments.

They just were not whole.

Getting the bulk of the roster back together at full strength, began to show a different team on the court. Different from Wednesday’s difficult game at least.

“We can see change already,” Ibaka said. “We had a great day today. After the last game in Cleveland, we saw the tape and everybody was ready to go. That’s a good sign. No tevery time is it going to be perfect. But good teams, when things go wrong, the next day they always try to come back and make things better. That’s what we did today.”

It was still rough for sure. The team had to get its legs back under them and get back into game condition. Aaron Gordon said there is nothing like playing to get back into game shape. Even practices do not have the same effect as a game.

The Magic will have a few more days to get there before games start coming fast and furious leading into the season. Wednesday’s restart to the preseason at home against the San Antonio Spurs does feel like a fresh beginning with the Magic now at full strength.

The picture for the Magic is starting to look clearer.

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“It just gives us so much more depth,” Gordon said. “We have so much talent in this team and a lot of people who are capable of doing so many things. When we have these pieces back, it just completes a perfect puzzle for us. When we put it together, it’s a nice picture.”