Orlando Magic get some good injury news in falling Eastern Conference

The Orlando Magic got some good injury news this week as both Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon are inching closer to a return quicker than expected.

Never ask Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford about stretches of the schedule or anything beyond the game in front of him. He is not one to get into the famed fan discussions about soft spots in the schedule or expectations.

Clifford is a granular guy. Hand him his list of players available and he will work to make that group as successful as they can be. He does not worry about who he does not have.

That is why he was most disappointed after Monday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons. It was not so much the team lost but that the team seemed to abandon the way it needs to play even to have a chance. Clifford has always had high expectations for his team and a complete belief in them.

Even he admitted before the Orlando Magic’s game against the Indiana Pacers the team is probably not going to win a seven-game series against competitive teams like the Pacers. But they could win the game in front of them.

That is squarely the goal while they try to fight to stay in the early playoff race with Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic nursing ankle injuries. Just scratch out wins, maintain a solid culture and way to play and move forward from there when they can integrate players back.

The Magic just have to stay competitive in the big picture.

It is starting to sound like that will not be too long from now. Both Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic appear to be making progress from their ankle injuries and could return sooner than anticipated.

Nikola Vucevic told reporters in Detroit before Monday’s game the injury was not as bad as they initially believed. He is already doing work in the pool and on the bike to regain some conditioning. He said a bone bruise is causing most of his pain now.

The Magic are likely to re-evaluate Vucevic when the team returns home after this road trip. His return to the court is still likely a little ways away. But the thought that he would not be available until at least Christmas seems to be a worst-case scenario.

This is very welcome news. And the hope has to be Vucevic will be able to get some on-court work done and make a return to the court before the team’s West-Coast road trip in two weeks.

That is still pretty far off though. Vucevic still has a long way to go despite these encouraging signs.

Aaron Gordon is much closer to a return though.

He was trying to play in tonight’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. But he has officially been ruled out after experiencing soreness in his ankle following an individual workout Tuesday.

Gordon is making some serious progress though. He just does not have the strength or stamina quite yet to play.

Denton reports Gordon went through the team’s shootaround or at least a part of it. So it appears Gordon is inching closer to a return. It might be as soon as Friday, but it could certainly still be a few games out.

Clifford told John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com the Magic do not want any players going in and out of the lineup. When they return, the team wants them back for good and not nursing any after-effects of the injury.

And so the team is looking to stay afloat and stay competitive before then. That is Clifford’s biggest focus right now. Finding this team’s way to win is paramount just to stay afloat.

The Magic, after all, are not out of the playoff race.

The team is still sitting in eighth in the early Eastern Conference standings. The whole bottom of the East is a mess of teams still trying to figure out who they are, overperforming or dealing with injuries. The two favorites of that bunch — the Magic and Pistons — are dealing with injuries to key players and biding their time it seems.

There are not a lot of other teams many would have faith in.

Granted now, the Orlando Magic are as close to the seventh-seeded Brooklyn Nets (2.5 games) to the last-place Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks (also 2.5 games). It does not seem like the Eastern Conference will have that much more separation.

But this is why it is important for the Magic to scratch out some wins and try to get either some separation from the rest of the pack or stay in contact with the last playoff spot.

The Eastern Conference is going to be forgiving for the Magic.

When Gordon and Vucevic are back, the Magic certainly are a playoff-caliber team. The important thing in this stretch of the season is to remain competitive for when those players return and they can regain their rhythm.

From there the chips might fall where they may.

The East’s poor start to the season has certainly given Orlando time to find its rhythm early in the season and weather these injuries. Whether that is enough to get out of the 8-seed and really improve on last year’s team might be another question.

For now, the focus is on scratching out wins. At least, it seems the Magic will get some key players back soon.