Perhaps the biggest positive surrounding the Orlando Magic right now — maybe even the only positive — revolves around rookie forward Aaron Gordon.
Gordon’s comeback from a foot fracture and subsequent surgery has continued without any setbacks.
Gordon took another step forward Saturday during the Magic’s 108-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
He played almost 30 minutes.
In addition to being a season-high minute total for Gordon, it was also evidence that the team has increased the playing-time restriction Gordon has faced since he returned to games on Jan. 18.
In his first three games back, Gordon played 12 minutes a game.
In his next three games, he played 20 minutes a game.
Now, he’s up to 30.
Because of the increased minutes, he was able to be on the court for most of Saturday’s fourth quarter. He was part of a group that whittled down Dallas’ lead from 18 points to five points before the Mavericks started to pull away again.
“It feels great,” Gordon said. “We were down a lot, and we showed a lot of resiliency. It was definitely a game that we could’ve won. But that’s how basketball goes. It’s a game of runs, and our run stopped a little short.”
As recently as July, the biggest weakness to Gordon’s game was his shooting.
But his shooting has improved markedly with practice and through working with Dave Love, an independent shooting consultant the Magic hired to work with Gordon.
On Saturday, Gordon went 2 for 3 from 3-point range, hitting a pair of corner 3s. He also went 3 for 4 from the free-throw line.
This season, Gordon is shooting 53 percent from 3-point range and 63 percent on his foul shots.
His improved shooting is a bonus.
Right now, the Magic want him to focus on the defensive end of the court and on his rebounding.
“I think overall his body has responded well to the minutes,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “Aaron’s just competed. He’s tried to do the right thing.”
Tough luck
Tobias Harris had waited 10 days to return to the starting lineup after he came back from a sprained ankle on Jan. 21.
Then, when he finally was back as a starter Saturday night, he picked up a pair of fouls in the game’s first 2 minutes and 39 seconds.
Those two quick fouls forced him to go to the bench, which disrupted his rhythm.
Harris played a total of 30 minutes, and scored eight points on 2-of-8 shooting. He did have five assists, however.
“That one was tough,” Harris said.
“I tried to feed off my teammates, tried to get guys shots, just play winning basketball. Some shots just weren’t able to fall. But I’m not really worried about that. I know it’ll come in time.”
Vaughn was asked why he decided to start Harris.
“The rationale was just to give us a different look at [power forward], to try to find a rhythm for Tobias and get him back playing the way he’s capable,” Vaughn said.
Sitting O’Quinn
Backup big man Kyle O’Quinn didn’t play Saturday, and Vaughn said O’Quinn didn’t play because O’Quinn missed the morning shootaround to attend to a family matter.
“With a tough team like [Dallas], without being physically able to go through shootaround, I thought [Dewayne] Dedmon would be better off [to play] tonight,” Vaughn said.
jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.
