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Orlando Magic officials wanted to use the final weeks of the regular season to accelerate the development of youngsters such as Maurice Harkless, Tobias Harris and DeQuan Jones.
But this isn’t how the team wanted it to happen.
Arron Afflalo, the team’s starting shooting guard and its leading scorer, will miss the final 12 games of the season after he strained his right hamstring during Friday night’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although team officials wouldn’t specify how severe the strain is, they said Afflalo’s injury will be treated with rest and physical therapy.
“He’s a leader out there on the floor,” Harkless said. “He brings a lot of energy, a lot of intensity. But we’ve played without him before. We’ve just got to do it again and stick together. We’re all we got.”
Afflalo’s absence will force the team’s least experienced players into more prominent roles, most notably Harkless.
— Reported by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel
