The Orlando Magic lost both Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon to injury and never recovered their offense in a loss at Toronto.
The Orlando Magic’s season may have well changed in one moment in the second quarter.
Nikola Vucevic went up to challenge a Norman Powell layup and came down awkwardly on his right foot. He crumpled to the floor, holding his foot and stayed there before the next timeout. He would need teammates to help him off the floor and into the locker room.
The team said officially he had a sprained right ankle. It is still unclear whether it is anything more. That — along with Aaron Gordon leaving the game a few moments before with a sprained right ankle of his own (although he played through it a few possessions before leaving) — put a pall on the Magic for the rest of the game.
Then again, their offense was already starting to struggle to crack the Toronto Raptors’ defense before that moment. A brilliant passing and ball movement first quarter where Orlando scored 32 points quickly disappeared when the team broke its lineup.
The Raptors were able to force turnovers and create mismatches to get open shots. Assistant coach Mike Batiste said the team was getting outhustled a bit on the glass and getting beat physically in some ways.
The Magic were never able to reel their offense back in. They pretty much stayed down by that 10-point deficit set by a 17-2 run at the start of the second quarter (before both the injuries) and a 29-19 second quarter. The Raptors kept the Magic at bay for a 113-97 win at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.
Orlando was never able to get its offense back after that strong first quarter. The team shot 38.5 percent from the floor and just 9 for 32 from beyond the arc (28.1 percent). A few more made shots might have kept the game close in the second half.
But ultimately, the Magic could not get their defense going. The Raptors scored 68 points in the paint and drove through the lane finishing at the rim or getting offensive rebounds and following shots for second-chance opportunities.
Orlando probably had its chances even with Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon out of the game. The fight and energy were largely there. Just not enough offense and not consistently enough on the glass. The team could not make shots and had backbreaking defensive mistakes.
Now the team will have to search for answers with both Vucevic and Gordon likely out for some period of time.
The Orlando Magic continue their road trip Saturday against the Indiana Pacers.