Paolo Banchero enjoyed the first 50-point game of his career on Monday. Three days later, it is unclear when the Orlando Magic star will play again.
Banchero has been diagnosed with a tear in his right oblique and is out indefinitely. the Magic announced Thursday. He suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game and will be reevaluated in four to six weeks.
The injury puts an end to what was shaping up to be a great season for the former first overall pick. After a Rookie of the Year award in his first season and an All-Star nod in his second, Banchero was averaging career highs nearly across the board in his first five games, including points (29 per game), rebounds (8.8), assists. (5.6), field goal percentage (49.5%) and three-point percentage (34.4%), in addition to a personal low in turnovers (2.2).
Much of that leap forward was attributable to Monday, when they lost 50 points to the Indiana Pacers, 37 of them in the first half, in a 119-115 victory.
At the minimum end of the schedule, a four-week recovery period would still cause Banchero to miss 15 games for the 3-2 Magic. He played at least 72 games in each of his first two years, but won’t reach that mark this season.
