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The Orlando Magic have ruled out star forward Aaron Gordon and guard Michael Carter-Williams for Tuesday's Game 1 showdown against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. The team announced that Gordon would miss the game with a strained left hamstring and Carter-Williams would sit out with a strained tendon in his left foot.
According to Magic head coach Steve Clifford, Aaron Gordon should be able to play in Game 2, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
The Magic already have a huge task in their hands trying to upset the top-seeded Bucks, but that task will get even tougher without a dynamic scorer in Gordon and a player that has given the team plenty of strong contributions in Carter-Williams.
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The Bucks will have a relatively healthy lineup to roll out in Game 1 and are large favorites to take the series by means of a sweep. Milwaukee struggled during the restart, going 3-5 in the eight seeding games.
Orlando also went 3-5 during the aforementioned games, but the Magic doesn't have the same winning pedigree of the Bucks, who have garnered the top record for two straight seasons. Milwaukee doesn't look quite ready to play against title contenders quite yet, but the Magic are far from that description.
Milwaukee's pre-pandemic winning percentage stood at a towering .815, the equivalent of a 67-win team. Orlando's was at a mere .461, the equivalent of a 38-win team and one that's also dipped considerably after the restart.
Yet if the Magic are to snatch a game or two in this series, they will need a healthy Aaron Gordon and Carter-Williams to be a factor in these games.
