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Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon passed Tracy McGrady on the franchise's all-time rebounds list in Saturday night's game against the Indiana Pacers.
What made the personal achievement particularly satisfying for Gordon is that he accomplished the feat within a context of team success. Gordon and the Magic went into Indianapolis and knocked off the Pacers, 121-116, to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt.
Aaron Gordon just passed Tracy McGrady for eighth on the Magic's career rebounds list with 2,068.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) March 30, 2019
Wins by the seventh-place Brooklyn Nets and eighth-place Miami Heat on Saturday kept them barely in front of the Nets in the race for the final playoff spots in the East. However, by winning a road game against the playoff-bound Pacers, the Magic exceeded expectations. The Nets and Heat have difficult games left on their schedule. If they — unlike the Magic — aren't able to score an upset win when they play tough opponents, the Magic will be right there with a chance to leapfrog one or both teams and move into a playoff spot.
This is the best part of the new world in which Aaron Gordon resides. He is still on the Magic, but now, with the arrival of head coach Steve Clifford, Orlando is no longer in basketball purgatory. Clifford has a well-earned reputation as a coach who fixes the teams he coaches. Orlando has benefited from Clifford's Magic touch. Gordon is no longer trapped in this organization. He has a future.
Anyone who can tie McGrady — a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame — on a major statistical list at age 23 is obviously doing something right.
