Paolo Banchero enjoyed the first 50-point game of his career on Monday. Three days later, it’s unclear when the Orlando Magic star will play again.
Banchero has been diagnosed with a torn right oblique and is out indefinitely, the Magic announced Thursday. He suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of a 102-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday and will be re-evaluated in four-to-six weeks.
The injury puts a screeching halt to what was shaping up to be a breakout season for the former No. 1 overall pick. After a Rookie of the Year award 2022-23 and an All-Star nod last season, 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 3-point percentage (34.4%), plus a career low in turnovers (2.2).
Much of that leap forward was attributable to Monday, when he dropped 50 points on the Indiana Pacers, with 37 of them in the first half, in a 119-115 win.
At the minimum end of the timetable, 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 likely won’t meet that mark this season.
