There was a small sliver of hope that two of the Orlando Magic's key players would go in tonight's road game against the Chicago Bulls. But Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic appear to be farther away from a return to action.

Gordon and Vucevic's status was updated Monday morning, and they are now listed as out against the Bulls, per Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.

Gordon and Vucevic have been out for some time with various injuries, Vucevic injured his hand a couple of months ago and had surgery in late December. He is healing, and appears to be somewhat close to coming back.

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Gordon, on the other hand, has a more recent injury. He will miss his eighth straight game with a hip flexor injury. That ailment caused him to withdraw from the Slam Dunk Contest this weekend. He was replaced by Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell.

Gordon and Vucevic and both important players for the magic, and arguably two of the team's best talents. Having them both out for multiple games this season has definitely hurt the Magic in the standings.

In addition to Gordon and Vucevic, two other players will not play against the Bulls. Four players not suiting up will make it very difficult to win against a Bulls team that has shown signs of life in the past several games.

Neither team, in fact, has a good record and both teams are preparing to pick in the lottery this summer. It should be a difficult came to watch tonight.