Ross continues to recover

PHILADELPHIA — If Terrence Ross hadn’t injured his right knee on Nov. 29, he never would’ve needed to find out where to find Orlando Magic games on his cable box.

But he learned this season.

His injury, a sprained MCL and a non-displaced fracture of his tibial plateau, prevented him from attending games at Amway Center for a difficult stretch.

His only outlet to watch the Magic was on TV.

“Channel 50,” he said. “Once 7 rolled around, it was pretty much I’m eating dinner watching.”

And what he saw made him unhappy, especially in December, as his teammates struggled to a 3-12 record and saw their postseason hopes evaporate.

Ross’ wait is slowly, agonizingly coming to an end.

He’s probably a few weeks away from returning to game action.

Ross was playing three-on-three before the All-Star break, but a minor setback — he called it “just a little bruise” — caused soreness and prompted him and team officials to slow his pace a bit.

Ross has missed Orlando’s last 37 games, and because he lost so much conditioning while his injury healed, he’ll likely need at least several practices to be considered ready to play in a game again.

“He hasn’t practiced, so he isn’t really that close [to returning],” coach Frank Vogel said.

Ross, a 27-year-old swingman, never experienced such a long layoff because of an injury, but he endured a rough season even before he got hurt.

He started each of Orlando’s first 20 games, but he was ineffective on offense and often got lost among fellow starters Elfrid Payton, Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic.

On Nov. 27, Vogel moved Ross into a sixth-man role.

Then, in the next game, against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he suffered his injury.

Ross missed a shot from the left corner, and Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook collected the rebound and sped upcourt in transition. Ross sprinted back, trying to chase down Westbrook. When Westbrook elevated for a layup, Ross jumped to challenge the shot. Ross landed and his right knee buckled.

Ross knew immediately that something was wrong, and an MRI confirmed he would have to miss a significant amount of time.

Although Ross had struggled before his injury — he had made only 41 percent of his shots and 33 percent of his 3-point tries — the Magic have missed his ability to space the floor and defend.

“Hopefully, I could’ve impacted some of those crucial moments, maybe a defensive stop here or there,” Ross said.

Tonight, the Magic will face the Thunder for the first time since he suffered his injury.

Ross has been on the road traveling with his teammates for weeks now, and he’ll watch the game from the Magic bench, a big improvement from having to watch on TV from afar.

He said he’s constantly played out in his mind what it’ll be like to play again in a game.

“Probably every day since I got hurt,” he said. “Since the swelling had gone months ago. Pretty much every day. Anytime I pick up a ball.”

Layups

Mario Hezonja turned 23 years old on Sunday.

The Magic spent Saturday night in Philadelphia and flew from Philadelphia to Oklahoma City on Sunday.