The Orlando Magic had four players return for their Sunday road matchup against the Boston Celtics after being in the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Despite the extra help — including a season-best performance from Terrence Ross — the Magic didn’t secure the win, falling to the Celtics 116-111 in overtime.
Ross, Mo Bamba, Hassani Gravett and Mychal Mulder were cleared from the protocols and made available against the Celtics, giving the Magic their most available players (13) in a couple of weeks.
The Magic, however, didn’t hold on to their late lead after taking control of the game for a significant part of the second half.
After outscoring the Celtics 35-20 in the third quarter and having a 96-82 lead with 4:20 remaining in the game, the Magic were outscored 34-15 in the 10 minutes to fall to 7-30. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with a career-high 50 points, including 24 in the final 17 minutes.
Ross scored a season-high 33 points, including 25 in the second half and overtime, on 11-of-19 shooting and 4-of-8 on 3-pointers. Gary Harris had 23 points and 4 steals. Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 7 assists.
“It’s great to have more bodies out there,” coach Jamahl Mosley said ahead of Sunday’s matchup. “Guys are going to have to get back into the fold of playing with one another, finding a rhythm and finding that chemistry. It’s just great to have more bodies out there for us to continue to push through.”
Chuma Okeke, Robin Lopez and Markelle Fultz — who was already sidelined because of a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee from January 2021 — are the lone Magic players in the protocols.
Bamba and Ross entered the protocols on Dec. 17. They missed the previous seven games because of the protocols and the return to competition reconditioning. Bamba rejoined the starting lineup alongside Carter, Harris, Franz Wagner and Tim Frazier.
Mulder, who’s on a two-way deal with the Magic, entered protocols on Dec. 22.
Gravett joined the Magic on a 10-day contract on Dec. 17 via a hardship exception from the franchise’s G-League team, the Lakeland Magic, before signing a second 10-day deal on Dec. 27. He entered the protocols after the team’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 28.
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association agreed to new protocols on Friday that allow for asymptomatic and vaccinated players to return to play five days after a positive COVID-19 test. Previously, individuals in the protocols had to be sidelined for at least 10 days or record two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests in a 24-hour period before resuming basketball activities.
The change came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its recommendations last Monday. Isolation periods for people who tested positive for COVID-19 were shortened from 10 days to five days if they are no longer feeling symptoms or running a fever under the CDC’s latest guidance.
Fultz, Cole Anthony (right ankle sprain), Jalen Suggs (right thumb fracture), Jonathan Isaac (recovery from torn left ACL), Michael Carter-Williams (recovery from left ankle surgery) and E’Twaun Moore (left knee sprain) remain sidelined with injuries.
