Ross won’t play in preseason finale
If the Orlando Magic are going to take some momentum into their regularseason opener, it’ll be without Terrence Ross, their starting shooting guard.
Ross, who missed the Magic’s last two exhibitions with a strained right hamstring, has the flu and won’t play when the team completes its preseason tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Amway Center, coach Frank Vogel said. “We’re still just being cautious with his hamstring,” Vogel said.
Evan Fournier, who sat out the last two exhibitions due to a sprained right ankle, practiced on Thursday and is expected to play against the Cavaliers.
When asked about his ankle, Fournier responded, “It’s nothing too serious.”
Last October, Vogel played nine players in the Magic’s preseason finale.
Expect a similar plan this time.
“We’re not going to overdo it,” Vogel said. “But we will play a close-to-normal rotation for the last dry run.”
The Magic’s injury report lists rookie swingman
Wes Iwundu as out for Friday’s exhibition due to a strained right hamstring. Bismack Biyombo
thinks the Magic have fared well this preseason building an identity.
Asked what he wants the team to accomplish today, Biyombo answered, “Just play the same way we have been playing. I think you can tell how we’re playing: We play for each other, and then we’re running more. We’re playing our game. The bottom line is we’ve got to keep playing our game in order for us to have a great season, and I think so far we have done that in the preseason.
“I don’t know who’s going to play or who’s not going to play [against the Cavaliers], and that should not matter for us. We’ve still got to go in there and do the same thing: play our game and try to get a win, just like we did in San Antonio.”
Feeling good
Aaron Gordon leads the Magic in scoring this preseason, averaging 17.8 points per game on 51.9 percent shooting from the field.
The Magic’s coaching continuity and up-tempo style of play have helped him.
And so has something else.
Entering his second season, Gordon was recovering from a fractured jaw.
Entering last season, he was nursing a severely sprained ankle.
This preseason, he’s displayed one of his trademarks: his energy.
“I feel good because my body feels really good,” Gordon said. “My mind is feeling really healthy. [My] motor, it helps me. Work ethic, motor, skill — you put that all together and it’s manifesting on the court. So it feels good.”