Orlando Magic guard/forward Terrence Ross is still not ready to play due to a sore knee, per head coach Steve Clifford.
Ross will pick up a sixth straight absence on Friday when the Magic square off with the Portland Trail Blazers. He should see a spike in usage on offense whenever he's cleared to play after the Magic traded away Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, and Evan Fournier at the trade deadline. Orlando will have only eight available players for Friday's matchup as Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter, Gary Harris, and R.J. Hampton are not available to make their Magic debut.
Per numberFire's NBA Heat Map, the Magic currently have the second-lowest implied total (103.5 points) out of the 22 teams playing on Friday. Dwayne Bacon is registering a 31.3 and Michael Carter-Williams is registering a 30.4 percent usage rate with Ross, Vooch, Gordon, and Fournier not on the court this season. Bacon is averaging an impressive 1.2 FanDuel points per minute in those situations.
Source: Roy Parry, Orlando Sentinel