Victor Oladipo missed practice Sunday and is out indefinitely after bruising his right knee in Thursday’s game against the Toronto Raptors. It is believed he injured the knee while taking a fourth-quarter charge on center Bismack Biyombo.
Oladipo is out indefinitely and his return will be dependent on how he responds to treatment.
“I’m all right,” Oladipo said after practice Sunday to Orlando Magic Daily. “It’s part of the game. Day by day right now. Just really basing it on how my body responds to treatment.
“It is what it is,” Oladipo added. “It’s a part of the game. A lot of the game is mental. At the end of the day, I’m going to go out there and play as hard as I can and play with the same confidence no matter what.”
The injury could not come at a worse time for the Orlando Magic.
The Magic were already down C.J. Watson at point guard and were just getting Elfrid Payton back from injury. Payton played about 20 minutes in his first game back in about a week Thursday against the Raptors. Payton said he should be ready for his full slate of minutes in Monday’s game against the Hawks in Atlanta.
There is a serious depth issue at guard as the Magic have wavered some in their faith in Shabazz Napier.
The good news is the Magic are calling in some temporary reinforcements.
Orlando will recall Devyn Marble from the Erie Bayhawks on Monday and will also sign Keith Appling to a 10-day contract off the Erie Bayhawks. Appling was on the Magic’s training camp roster with the agreement he would spend the year in Erie on the Magic’s D-League team.
The Erie Bayhawks run the same offensive and defensive schemes as the Magic so the transition should be seamless for him.
With the Magic struggling right now having lost seven of their past eight games, injuries are coming at the worst time for this team. They have to quickly find their footing again and pick up some wins to stay in contact in a congested and tight Eastern Conference.
It is especially bad timing as Victor Oladipo was starting to play his best basketball of the season, beginning to resemble the borderline All Star that raised hopes at the end of the 2015 season.
