Biyombo nears 82nd game

MILWAUKEE — Injuries or illnesses have forced Orlando Magic players to sit out a total of 224 games so far this season.

contribution to that figure?

A grand total of — drumroll, please — games missed.

Biyombo played in his 81st game Monday night when the Magic faced the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center.

If, as expected, Biyombo plays in the Magic’s season finale Wednesday night in Orlando, he’ll become only the second Magic player since the start of this decade to appear in all 82 games of a season.

“To me,” Biyombo said, “it’s just coming into every season with the mindset of grinding every game, facing the ups and downs and just being able to understand you’re going to go through good days. You’re going to have bad days, but you’ve just got to manage and find a way through it. So that always has been my goal. Unfortunately, the season has not gone the way we all expected.”

Biyombo’s Magic tenure has been a disappointment on both ends of the floor since the team signed him to a four-year, $68 million deal in 2016, but his durability has been unimpeachable.

He played in all 82 games during the 2015-16 season with the Toronto Raptors.

Last season, his first with Orlando, he played in 81 games, with the lone absence occurring because he served a one-game NBA suspension due to an accumulation of flagrant fouls during the 2016 playoffs with the Raptors.

Since the 2010-11 season, only one Magic player has appeared in all games of a regular season:

who accomplished the feat twice, in 2014-15 and again in 2016-17.

“It’s very impressive these days or back in the day,” coach said. “It’s a physical game out there. There’s a big grind. There’s a lot of off-your-feet type of action. It’s an abovethe-rim game. So for a guy like Biz to be doing what he’s doing? It’s super-impressive with both his ability to have the body that can sustain that but also to not let anything hold him back in terms of minor, nagging injuries.”

This year has been especially injury-filled for Orlando.

and have missed at least 12 games apiece due to injuries.

The Magic’s 224 missed games due to injuries and illnesses is the team’s highest number since Magic players missed a total of 262 games during the 2004-05 season, according to

the team’s director of communications.

Fournier, Isaac and Simmons didn’t accompany the team on its road trip to Toronto and Milwaukee because they’re recovering from injuries. Fournier has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Isaac has a sprained left ankle. And Simmons has a right wrist contusion.

who played Sunday after he missed 57 consecutive games due to a right knee injury, was held out for rest purposes Monday.

The Magic haven’t had more than one player appear in all 82 games of the same season since and did so during the 2009-10 season. Former Magic player

the color commentator on Magic TV broadcasts, turned 56 years old on Monday.

The Magic’s streak with at least one made 3-pointer reached 901 consecutive games Monday.