Tobias Harris said Tuesday that his sprained left ankle continues to improve, but he added he didn’t know whether he’ll be able to play when the Orlando Magic face the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Harris suffered the injury on Jan. 9, when he slipped on a wet area of Staples Center’s court and rolled his ankle. Harris added that he also suffered a bone bruise.
He hasn’t played since, missing five games.
“It’s getting better,” Harris said. “Every day I’m able to do a little bit more and more. The biggest thing was just letting it heal. It was a pretty bad sprain when I rolled it, but it’s getting better.”
The injury, Harris said, is not related to the left high-ankle sprain he suffered in Oct. 2013. The high-ankle sprain forced him to sit out 21 games last season and didn’t heal completely until the season ended.
During his current absence, the Magic have made an abrupt change in playing style, shifting to an up-tempo pace in which they push the ball upcourt whenever possible.
The style should suit Harris well. He runs the floor as hard as anyone on the Magic’s roster.
“It fits us best as a young, athletic team that has a lot of guys who can get up and down the floor,” Harris said. “So it’s going to be good to get back in action with that.”
Harris hoped to participate in at least a portion of the Magic’s practice Tuesday.
The Magic have gone 2-3 without Harris, and the team would’ve benefitted from having him guard Jeff Green during the closing minutes of a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies and guard Kevin Durant during Sunday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“It’s tough to watch because I want to be out there just with my team, helping our team,” Harris said. “I felt like we got in a good rhythm pushing the pace. Guys are picking up their roles.”
Harris ranks second on the Magic in scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game.
His return will give Orlando another scoring option, but it’ll also take some shots away from guard Victor Oladipo and center Nikola Vucevic, who have had some big performances during Harris’ absence.
A Detroit rematch
When the Magic last faced the Pistons on Dec. 30, the Magic lost 109-86 at Amway Center.
Orlando couldn’t defend Detroit’s pick-and-rolls. As the Magic sought to account for the roll man, Andre Drummond, Pistons ball-handlers found swingman Jodie Meeks often open on the perimeter. Meeks made the Magic pay, going 9 for 11 from 3-point range and scoring 34 points.
“We’ll have other schemes to combat that,” Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said Tuesday. “They played a Western Conference team right after us, pretty shortly, and played the same defense, and Jodie Meeks missed shots. That’s a part of basketball.”
Watching the boards
Drummond and Greg Monroe, Detroit’s starting power forward, combined to grab 13 of the Pistons’ 16 offensive boards during the Pistons’ win over the Magic on Dec. 30.
“We definitely want to play better against them than we did in that game,” Vucevic said. “Since playing the first time in Detroit and the second time we played them here [in Orlando], they’re a very different team. They play much better. And so it’s going to be on us to have a better showing [Wednesday] and play with more physicality.”