Yahoo Finance Report: Magic star Nikola Vucevic to miss at least a month
Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic will miss at least a month after being forced from Wednesday night’s loss to the Toronto Raptors with a right ankle injury, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Vucevic suffered the injury when trying to block a Raptors shot with 5:29 left in the second quarter. He was helped to the locker room and ruled out for the remainder of the game with a right ankle sprain.
.@OrlandoMagic C Nikola Vucevic needs help getting to the locker room after his right ankle buckled upon landing on a block attempt. pic.twitter.com/dGPppGNrvm
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) November 21, 2019
An All-Star for the first time in his career last season, the 29-year-old Vucevic signed a four-year, $100 million contract to stay in Orlando this past summer. He is averaging 17.1 points on 45/32/85 shooting splits, along with 11.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 30.8 minutes per game for the Magic this season.
Magic teammate Aaron Gordon also suffered a second-quarter ankle sprain and missed the remainder of Wednesday’s game.
“It was a little bit worse sprain than I’ve had,” Gordon told reporters after leaving Wednesday’s loss with two points in 12 minutes. “Usually, I can roll it over and lace it up a little tighter and keep going. I jumped all the way up and landed all the way down on it, so it hurts, man, not being able to play, not being able to help my team win. But injuries are part of the game, so I’m going to take my time and get back right.”
Jonathan Isaac returned Wednesday after missing the two previous games with an ankle injury of his own. He finished with 16 points on 15 shots, 13 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 34 minutes.
The Magic were remarkably healthy last season, when they won 42 games and made the playoffs for the first time in seven years. Expectations increased this season, but Orlando has gotten off to a rocky 6-8 start, and the extended absence of Vucevic won’t do them any favors in the effort to get back on track.
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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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