Mario Hezonja, for instance, went from 29.6 minutes per game in the nine games Aaron Gordon missed to 22.7 in the three games since. That included just 15 minutes against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday. And Jonathan Isaac will pinch his minutes more. Gordon’s minutes should increase to normal amounts soon, further eroding Hezonja’s court time.

Hezonja has played most of his minutes at power forward this year. Isaac is going to take those minutes. Unlike Hezonja, who will be an unrestricted free agent this year, the Magic are invested heavily in Isaac’s future. They need to see him play and play meaningful and big minutes for the team.

That will likely move Hezonja more to small forward. That position might be more natural for him. But he has had very little success playing there in his career. Especially defensively.

Vogel said before the break he would play Hezonja more at the 3. Hezonja had earned his way into the rotation and the Magic were not about to take him out, although his role would inevitably shrink.

Hezonja and Gordon have played minutes together at the 3 and the 4 since the break. Often, Vogel used Gordon to defend the perimeter player and left Hezonja on the weaker offensive player or on the power forward.