The Orlando Magic have been treading water in the Eastern Conference playoff picture while star forward Paolo Banchero has been sidelined, but now the face of their franchise is coming back. After missing 10 games with a left groin strain, Banchero is set to make his return on Friday night against the Miami Heat, the team announced on social media.
Banchero suffered the injury back on Nov. 12 against the New York Knicks and missed nearly a month of action, but the Magic were able to go 7-3 in the 10 games that he missed. They will be hoping to keep that momentum going and then some with their best player back on the floor.
As it stands, the Magic are currently sitting at 13-9 on the season and are in a tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. That should be very encouraging considering they have played nearly half of their games without Banchero, while the rest of the Eastern Conference should be on notice.
The Duke product has struggled a bit with his shot this season, knocking down just over 46% of his attempts and just 25% of his 3-pointers on his way to 21.7 points per game. It will be interesting to see how he fits back in next to Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane, both of whom have excelled in his absence.
The Magic have no time to waste re-acclimating Banchero, as they have a very tough stretch of the schedule coming up. That starts on Friday with a game against the Heat before a Sunday afternoon tilt against the New York Knicks, both of whom are ahead of Orlando in the current standings. Then, on Tuesday night, Orlando hosts the Heat in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
