Isaac gives tantalizing taste of his potential

Shows what he can do with gigantic 4th-quarter charge

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Jonathan Isaac had a giant smile on his face as he answered each question in the Magic locker room Wednesday night. His big fourth-quarter plays against Philadelphia showed signs of what he is capable of doing.

The 2017 Orlando first-round draft pick has always been a sort of mystery man since arriving at the NBA level. A mystery in that most Magic fans, who were hoping Isaac would immediately help the team improve, have never really seen what Isaac can do for Orlando because of a series of injuries.

The mystery may have been solved Wednesday night against the 76ers. The Magic were about to get blown out at Amway Center, trailing by 16 points with 10:51 left in the game.

To that point, Isaac had mostly done nothing. His box score line read zeroes all the way across, with the exception of one shot attempt and one blocked shot. Isaac was playing in his first game since sitting out six straight due to a sprained right ankle — more ankle issues after missing 55 games because of similar issues last year.

He was earning a label that he surely, deep inside, wanted to shed. Some crit-

ics suggested he was soft and too nonchalant about his injury problems.

But Isaac remained upbeat amid scrutiny.

His work ethic was strong, his faith even stronger. He firmly believed he would get better and be a major contributor to the future of the Orlando Magic.

Wednesday night was his chance to shine. An offensive rebound and a put-back by Isaac, off his own missed shot, set the stage for what would become the Magic’s biggest fourth-quarter comeback in 21 years. Isaac’s aggressiveness suddenly showed and he took over underneath. The lanky, 6-foot-10, 210-pound Isaac took over the paint.

The offensive put-back was the first bucket during a 21-0 Orlando run and Isaac was also a big part of two other momentum changers during the final eight minutes. Philly’s vaunted 7-foot, 260-pound center Joel Embiid went to the rim for one of his usually easy slam dunks. Isaac wasn’t having it. He went right at the 76ers’ star, meeting him at the cylinder and blocking his dunk attempt with force. The crowd went nuts — and so did the Magic. If Embiid would have converted the slam, it would have broken a nearly three-minute 76ers scoring drought and likely would have ended the Magic momentum.

Isaac made sure that didn’t happen. He was strong, assertive and he showed a glimpse of what he could mean to the future of a struggling franchise.

He grabbed the rebound off the block and dished it out to Terrence Ross, who buried a 3-pointer in transition. The crowd was rocking. Orlando had its first lead since halftime at 93-92. Amway was alive again.

“That was a big block. That was definitely a big play,” Magic center Nikola Vucevic said. “Obviously he had limited minutes tonight, but once he gets back into rhythm, he’s going to be a huge help for us.”

On the next trip down, Embiid missed a jumper and Isaac was there to strong-arm another rebound. Again the Magic got out in transition and were firing away, this time just inside the 3-point stripe. They carried the momentum to a 111-106 victory and left the Sixers in shock.

“He’s such a good player. That [block] was a momentum-changing play, and then he had a good traffic rebound right after that, and he had the good strong power move inside, I think, from Vooch on the little drop-off play,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “It’s just good to have him out there. You can see it’s going to take him a couple of games to get his conditioning level back and all of that, but … he’s a good player, he’s just a good, all-around smart player.”

Isaac’s fourth-quarter line read: 1-of-2 on field goals, 2-of-2 free throws, six rebounds and the blocked shot everyone was talking about.

“It was fantastic … I came out of the game just saying under my breath, ‘Lord, you are faithful,’ and he really is,” Isaac said with a huge smile. “The block felt great … and T-Ross hit the 3, that’s what really set the building on fire.”

Not only was there the big Embiid stop, but on the next Philly possession, Isaac muscled his way in for a defensive rebound, and he had the adrenaline flowing.

“That’s what happens when you get in the game after you’ve been out for a while … as you continue to play you kind of seamlessly just like, ‘I’m in the game now,’ and you’re just there, you’re just ready and your mind is clear and you’re just ready to play,” Isaac said. “In that stretch, that’s what I felt like: just peace and ready to play.”

Isaac has talked about wanting to bulk up and get stronger. He certainly looked strong during the decisive late stretch against Philadelphia.

“See, if I had more strength, I coulda stopped it in his tracks,” Isaac said of the blocked shot.

Well, he pretty much did that. Now fans, his teammates and his coaches hope to see more of it. They want more than a glimpse of Isaac’s dominance, but for now, they’ll ride this wave while it lasts.