ORLANDO, Fla. — After a sprained left ankle from Friday morning’s shootaround put his return in doubt, R.J. Hampton made his return to the lineup in the Orlando Magic’s 119-111 the Houston Rockets at Amway Center, immediately giving the guard rotation a boost after a month-long absence.
He also gave Magic coach Jamahl Mosley options in the backcourt he hasn’t consistently had in nearly three months.
Hampton, who was out for 14 games leading into last weekend’s All-Star break after spraining the medial collateral ligament and bruising a bone in his left knee on Jan. 19, was injured less than a week after Jalen Suggs made his return from a fractured right thumb that sidelined him for 1 1/2 months.
Outside of a four-game stretch in mid-January, the Magic haven’t consistently had their top-four guards available at the same time since mid-November because of injuries. This doesn’t include Markelle Fultz, who’s expected to return this season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in January 2021.
Still, Hampton’s return puts a greater focus on how Mosley will distribute the playing time among his guard rotation as Orlando continues to emphasize developing its younger players.
“Having these conversations throughout the year has been what’s ... the ability to sustain that throughout the year. Talking to Gary about R.J. coming back and R.J. understanding what it looks like for him coming back — these guys have done a great job communicating with one another throughout their time off of understanding how they’re going to play when they get on the floor together.”
Chuma Okeke scored a career-high 26 points (9-of-13 shooting, 5 of 7 on 3-pointers) to go with nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block off the bench. Wendell Carter Jr. had a 24-point, 12-rebound double-double, while Cole Anthony finished with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Hampton (11 points, five rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes) was one of four Orlando reserves who scored in double figures. The Magic had 59 bench points, with their second unit’s runs in the second quarter and fourth helping them push past the Rockets (15-44).
Houston was led by Jalen Green’s 23 points and five rebounds.
Before the break, Mosley was playing three-guard lineups with Anthony, Suggs and Gary Harris more frequently — an adjustment that’ll likely continue with Hampton back in the lineup.
Anthony, Harris and Hampton shared the floor briefly in the first, with Suggs limited to 15 minutes because of foul trouble.
“R.J. does a great job of crawling into the ball defensively,” Mosley said. “Gary’s solid defensively. Jalen’s solid defensively. Cole gets up and pressure, so the combination of those guys being able to pressure the ball the right way is then [helps us] offensively being able to push the pace up the floor. We have three decision-makers that can get out and lead the break.
“I’m going to continue to look at what combinations work. That’s the great part about having guys coming back: you have the options to look at different combinations — what works, work chemistry fits together — so we’ll look at it games go on.”
The Magic (14-47) will play the Indiana Pacers Monday at Amway Center.
