The Orlando Magic have made the playoffs for the first time since 2012, when Dwight Howard was still wearing black-and-blue pinstripes. Fortunately, Steve Clifford's team will have a clean bill of health for its opening game against the Toronto Raptors, too.
The Magic announced on Thursday that sophomore forward Jonathan Isaac has cleared concussion protocol, and will be available to play against the Raptors on Saturday at Air Canada Centre.
Jonathan Isaac has completed and passed the NBA concussion protocol and is available to play Saturday in Game 1 of the Orlando Magic's playoff series against the Toronto Raptors.
— Orlando Magic PR (@Magic_PR) April 12, 2019
Isaac, the sixth overall pick of the 2017 draft, was hit in the jaw during the first quarter of Orlando's win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. He went on to play 22 minutes in the game, leaving for good midway through the third quarter. The Florida State product reportedly began experiencing concussion symptoms after the game, which led to team doctors placing him in concussion protocol according to Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel.
The Magic, apparently, were unaware of Isaac's status for Game 1 in the hours leading up to the announcement he had been cleared.
“He’s still in protocol so we won’t know until he gets done. It’s a process. They have to do a bunch of stuff,”Steve Clifford told The Sentinel earlier on Thursday. “So you don’t know until the end. You have no idea until they clear him.”
Isaac started 64 games at power forward for Orlando this season, establishing himself as a fixture of the team's present and future — especially on defense, where he's already one of the league's most versatile players. He averaged 9.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game during the regular season.
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