Jonathan Isaac tears ACL on Sunday
Jonathan Isaac has the potential to be one of the best young big men in the game. He's the modern-day power forward, because he's very agile, can stretch the floor and protect the rim. However, the biggest challenge for Isaac has been to stay on the floor for the Orlando Magic.
On Sunday, Isaac drove the lane, attempting to go through two Sacramento defenders and fell to the floor in pain, untouched. The key word being "untouched", which is how many serious knee injuries begin. Isaac clutched his left knee in pain in the fourth quarter of a 132-116 win for the Magic over the Kings.
This is just a devastating injury for the league and the Magic. Isaac had also suffered a hyperextended left knee on Jan. 1 at Washington. He missed 31 games due to the injury and had produced four points, four rebounds and two steals in 15 minutes on Sunday.
In his first game back from the injury and re-start, Isaac scored 16 points and grabbed six boards in 16 minutes, in the Magic's 128-118 win over Brooklyn on Friday. On the season, the 6-11, 230-pound forward was averaging 11.9 points, 2.3 blocks and 6.8 rebounds per game in his third season out of Florida State. For his career, Isaac is averaging 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.
The Magic are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, a 1/2 game ahead of the Nets and 7.5 games ahead of Washington. With six games left, it's crucial that the Magic grab the seventh seed to avoid playing first-place Milwaukee. If the regular "seeding" season ended now, they would play No. 2 Toronto in the first round of the playoffs.
Isaac was a luxury to have because they could play him behind Aaron Gordon, who had 22 points on Sunday or play him at center. This should mean more time for Mo Bamba, who played just six minutes on Sunday, but they could also go to power forwards Khem Birch and Gary Clark None of those players have the talent or size of Isaac.
