MIAMI – High-flying Orlando Magic power forward Aaron Gordon received a double-whammy of bad news on Monday when he learned that his hip injury would not only knock him out of the next two games, but also out of the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest later this month.
Gordon, Orlando’s leading scorer at 18.4 points per game, will miss his fourth and fifth straight games tonight (in Miami against the Heat) and Tuesday (at the Amway Center against the Cleveland Cavaliers) because of a strained left hip flexor muscle. Gordon, 22, suffered the injury on Jan. 27 late in the loss to the Indiana Pacers and he’s been bothered by lingering pain over the past nine days.