Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac tore the ACL in his left knee on Sunday, the team announced.
Isaac drove the lane and did a hop step between two defenders against the Kings. Then he immediately fell to the floor in pain, untouched, while clutching his left knee with 9:19 left in the fourth quarter during the Magic’s 132-116 win.
Isaac had his head in his hands as he was wheeled off the court accompanied by Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman.
This was Isaac’s second game back since he hyperextended his left knee on Jan. 1 at Washington. Isaac, who missed 31 games because of the injury, left the game with 4 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in 15 minutes.
Even though the Magic routed the Kings, the Magic bench looked subdued following Isaac’s injury.
“That was tough, man,” teammate Aaron Gordon said. “That one brought me to tears and instantly — just because I know how good of a guy JI is and how hard he works and how hard he has worked to get back since hurting himself in D.C. That was tough.”
Kings big man Harry Giles III, who tore both of his ACLs in high school and had a procedure on his left knee before starting his college career at Duke, said he spoke to Isaac briefly before he left the floor.
“Just kind of telling him to stay up, stay positive,” Giles said. “I just hate to see that because it’s tough. I don’t really like speaking on that too much. It’s just unfortunate, man, because he’s been working and with the brace on. You hate to see him get hurt again.”
ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, Tim Bontemps and Nick Friedell contributed to this report.
